How to Set Up Automatic Payment for Capital One Credit Card

With around 45 million cardholders, Capital One is among the top 10 largest credit card companies in the United States. Capital One will issue a credit card to just about anyone, regardless of your credit card rating. However, the worse your credit is, the higher your interest rate will be. To avoid further harm to your credit score from missed or late payments, you can set up automatic payments for your card.

In addition to income from credit card account interest, Capital One makes a tidy sum from late fees. They can and will charge you up to $27 the first time you pay late, and if you're late again within the next six months, they'll charge you up to $39. This is per late payment.

Gone are the days that a bill payment was considered late after 30 days. Like many other credit card companies, Capital One's late fees kick the moment your payment is made after 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the day it's due. No exceptions.

Even if you're uncomfortable with the idea of automatic payments, if you've ever forgotten a payment and were charged a hefty late fee, you might want to reconsider. Setting up automatic payments is the best way to ensure that you'll never be late again.

You can set up automatic payments in one of two ways.

1. From your checking account's bill pay service.
2. Directly with Capital One using Capital One autopay

Both methods will debit your checking account each month. The difference is, if you set up automatic payments from your checking account, you will not be sharing your bank account and routing number with Capital One.

While Capital One runs a pretty tight ship, well-publicized data breaches have occurred at companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield and Equifax. Using your bank's bill pay service is one way to cut down on the number of companies that have access to your checking account.

To set up an automatic payment to Capital One from your bank account, sign into your checking account and choose the Bill Pay option. It's usually a tab near the top of the page. Every bank and credit union's website is a little different, but after clicking on Bill Pay, you'll usually see an option for adding a new bill. It might say something like "Add a Business or Person."

Click on that and type "Capital One" in the name field. Then fill in your Capital One account number. After you've done this, there should be a "Set Up AutoPay" option. When you click on that, you'll need to fill out how much you want to pay Capital One and when.

Your second alternative is to use Capital One autopay. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your Capital One account and click in the area that shows the name of your account and its balance.
2. Find the button that says, "I want to…" It's roughly in the middle of the page on the right side of your screen.
3. A list of options that are organized by categories will open. The first category is "Payments." Below "Payments," the second item listed is "Setup AutoPay." Click on it.
4. A small window will open with a large button called "Add payment account." Click on it.
5. Enter your checking account routing number and account number. (You have to enter the account number twice.)
6. Select the Type of Account you're paying from, from the pull-down menu. (personal checking, personal savings, money market, etc.)
7. Click on the big green "Add" button.
8. After you've clicked on "Add" another small window opens that tells you "Monthly automatic payments will be paid on (your due date) each month.
9. From here you can choose how much you want to pay; "minimum payment," your "statement balance," or fill in a different amount.
10. A final window will open with a brief Terms and Conditions statement. Below the statement, click the big green button that says "Set up autopay."

That's it! Now all you have to do is make sure you have enough money in your bank account on your due day every month. No more late charges. If you run into any problems setting this up, call Capital One Customer Service at 877-383-4802.