The first impulse you may have after getting your new Northwest Visa or Platinum Northwest Rewards Visa credit card is to make large purchases or pay down debt. Sensible use of your new card, however, will help avoid accruing further debt and/or negatively impacting your credit.
Using your credit card helps you build credit, but keeping your balance at a healthy level by making payments on time and utilizing your Visa Rewards bonuses can help you sustain your path to better credit.
Here are some next steps for what to do with your new card, and how to make payments!
Use your card for everyday purchases and bills.
Replacing purchases and bill payments you make with a check or debit card with your credit card can help build credit and will earn you more Visa Rewards points. Most merchants allow for payments to be made using a credit card as a payment method. If using a card is not an option, our Bill Pay service can help with making bill payments on-time.
If you have a Visa Rewards card, you can also take advantage of our current Visa Rewards promotions as well as cash in on the rewards you’ve earned, which includes benefits such as cash back.
Keep your owing balance well below your overall credit limit.
Maxing out the limit on your card and paying off the balance with only minimum payments can impact your credit, and can also be a factor in decisions for future loans or credit limit increases. Maintaining a balance month to month well below your credit limit is a great way to show responsibility with your new card.
Make your payments on time.
The major obligation with having a credit card is making sure that your payments are received in a regular fashion. Payments with NWCU Visa cards are due on the 5th of every month, with a 10-day grace period before a late charge of $25.00 is assessed.
How to Pay your Credit Card Bill
Payments can be made in a few ways, either from an internal account at NWCU, or from an account you have elsewhere, via creating an eBanking account and logging in.
Learn how to read your credit card statement.
To make a payment from an account at NWCU
- Navigate to the Transactions tab
- Select “Funds Transfer”
- Select which account you wish to pull payments from, with your Visa credit card as the receiving account
- Input the amount you wish to pay to the card, and the date you wish for it to process
Selecting, “Make this a recurring transaction” will enable automatic payments to the Visa from your checking or savings account on a regular basis for a given frequency (i.e., every other week, weekly, on a specific date, etc.), as well as a start and end date for how long you wish automatic payments to be enabled for. Canceling a recurring payment to your Visa can be done via the Activity Center in the Transactions menu, by selecting “Recurring Transactions.”
How to Pay your Credit Card Bill using an Account at Another Institution
- Navigate to Credit Card Services, and select the credit card account you wish to make a payment to
- Select “Bill Payment” on the main screen
- Choose “Enroll Accounts”, input your institution’s routing number, and then click “Submit”
- Input the full account number, select if it is a Checking or Savings account, and click “Submit”
- Once the account is enrolled so that it can be used for future payments, select “Continue”
- The Make a Payment screen will display when your next payment is due along with your current statement date. Selecting the account you just enrolled will allow you to enter a payment frequency cycle, either “Monthly” or “One Time”
- Under “How much do you want to pay”, you’ll be given four (4) options: pay the minimum due, the statement balance, the current balance, or a separate, fixed amount
- To submit your payment, click “Continue”
Payments from another institution via routing and account number can take up to 3 business days to process, so we do not recommend that you use this payment option at the end of your grace period.
If you are at the end of your grace period for a due payment and want to avoid a late fee, we can also accept payment via debit card.
Payments via debit card post same-day, but have a $10.00 processing fee. To make a payment via card, call us at (800) 452-9515.
If you'd like to mail your payment in, you can use the payment stub that comes with your credit card statement.