Bank tricks my wife screws up her credit to make a few cents profit...

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My wife is paying off a large dentist bill with a credit arrangement she got theough the dentist's office. She pays online using a bank account-linked credit/debit card. She just got a notice yesterday from the dental billing outfit saying her payment was late - again - and she is being charged a late fee ans her interest rate is now near 30%. Turns out the bank from which she takes the money to pay this bill (every month, on time) debits her account immediately , but does not pay the bill for a week afterwards, probably transferring the money into a pool account to make interest or some such scheme before transfering it to the debt holder. This has caused my wife's payment to shpw up late, no matter when she actually pays it, leaving us with late fees, high interest and a "bad mark" on the credit rating.

FWIW, it's Sovereign Bank, and we are closing the account, our last account not in a credit union, and one we started years ago solely to use to pay bills online.

Wanted to share this - check ALL online transactions carefully - Banks are not your friends.

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