Bizarre World of Business Credit Cards Trips Up Credit Expert

Recently, a $45.88 charge on one of my credit cards turned into a $96.77 charge in a matter of days, thanks to the unregulated world of small business credit cards. Here’s what happened:

A few months ago I opened a BP Business Fleet Card because I wanted to test out its usefulness for building business credit. As coauthor of Business Credit Success: Get on the Financing Fast Track, I know a thing or two about business credit ratings. Erik Salmon, a business credit consultant, tipped me off about this card and suggested I try it out.

The approval process was fairly easy and smooth. In fact, I was amused by how aggressively the folks at BP Business Solutions marketed the card. When I failed to complete the application the first time, they called me and encouraged me to send it in. I was approved quickly for a small credit line, and they proceeded to call me several times to encourage me to use the card.

I did, and in July received my second bill for a $45.88 fuel purchase. The bill was emailed to me on July 3^rdand payment was due on July 18^th—only fifteen days later. (Oddly enough, the bill is delivered as an email attachment, which I don’t find particularly secure.) Unfortunately, due to my daily deluge of email, I failed to open the attachment, and didn’t note the due date. By the time I remembered it was July 20^th.

Yes, “Ms. Credit Expert” was late on her second business credit card payment.

[Resource: Not sure where your credit stands? Get your Free Credit Report Card to find out.]

I know I should know better. After all, I am the one who tells small business owners to pay their bills early, so there really is no excuse for my late payment. But c’mon, just over two weeks to get a payment in? At least if this were a personal credit card, I would have 21 days or more before my payment would be due, thanks the Credit CARD Act.

On July 20^th, I found myself trying to figure out how to minimize the damage and make the payment as quickly as possible. I called BP Business Solutions and discovered a phone payment would set me back $25, which seemed exorbitant to me. I thought about mailing the payment, but knew that could delay it by several more days.

I decided instead to muscle through their online payment system which, quite frankly, I find a bit bizarre. To use the system, the cardholder has to download a java application, but I couldn’t manage to install it successfully on either my desktop or laptop.

Remembering that the month before I had managed to make an online payment without downloading that app, I clicked around the site until I found the other option. (I later found a PDF on my computer they had sent me when I opened the account. It’s “user guide” to their online payment system. Really—you need a user guide to figure out how to manage your accounts online!)

I couldn’t remember my username or password, but unlike the other online payment accounts I use all the time, there was no online username/password recovery option. So I emailed their customer support department. To their credit, they responded right away, though I found it a little odd that the email came from “Keith Martin (aka Brian).”

I finally processed an online payment that was credited to my account two days later.