Capital One Online Payment

Safe and Easy

If you are still sending your credit card payments in to Capital One through the mail, take heed. There is a much simpler way to make sure your credit card payment gets credited to your account quickly, and without the possibility of a check getting lost in the mail en route to the processing center.

Register for Capital One Online Payment

Access to online credit card capability is not automatically granted, but instead you do need to take the time to register. Your credit card must be activated prior to registering for online access. The registration process is easy, but you will need to know the following information in order to complete the process:

• The account number on the credit card
• The security code for the credit card, located on the back
• The credit card's expiration date
• The maiden name of the primary account holder's mother

These questions are safeguards to ensure that the person registering for online access is actually the accountholder. Although not every credit card issued through Capital One is eligible for online payment access, the most common cards such as the No Hassles Miles Rewards credit cards are eligible.

Make Payments

A Capital One online payment can be made directly from your bank account. You will need to manually add bank account information to your Capital One online registration, but as long as you have your bank's routing number and the account number then you have all the information you will need.

Keep in mind that even though you are making a payment electronically, the funds may not be pulled from your bank account for a couple of business days. For this reason, it may take a few days for the payment to be credited to your credit card. Until then, it will show as a pending payment.

Save Money

Most lenders prefer customers to utilize online services because it ends up costing less for the company. If you find an answer to your question online, or if you can use the online system to accomplish something simple like an address change on the account, then you bypass the need to use a human customer service representative. This saves Capital One quite a bit of money in the long run. Why should you care about saving your credit card company some money? The answer is simple: A credit card company that saves money can pass the savings on to customers in the form of lower interest rates.

Other Online Services

In addition to making payments using the Internet, you can use your personalized Capital One online account to:

• Change your mailing address
• Change your statement delivery preferences
• Request a new PIN (Personal Identification Number)

You can also peruse the other Capital One offerings including auto loans, home loans, and the various banking products offered through the company. Applying for one of these products is simple when your personal information is already in the Capital One computer system.

Online Safety

Some people neglect to sign up for online access to pay credit card bills because they are nervous about transmitting personal information over the Internet. Although you can rest assure that the Capital One website is safe, there are a few precautions you should take when conducting any financial business online:

• Log in directly to the Capital One website instead of following a link from an unsolicited e-mail.
• Always check your account online periodically to make sure that your payments are credited and no strange charges appear on your account.
• Use caution when making online payments via shared computers or over unsecured Wi-Fi connections.

The vast majority of people who utilize the Internet to make credit card payments never run into problems, but it is always wise to be aware of the potential for problems.