Fuze Network, a payments technology company, is now guaranteeing that its consumers making credit card payments by noon Central Standard Time on or before the due date will not be charged a late fee. If they are, company executive Dave Wilkes says Fuze Network will reimburse the consumer.

“Hectic schedules, forgetfulness and simple day-to-day activities sometimes interfere with making a bill payment in advance,” said Wilkes. “Consumers should feel confident that no matter what happens during the billing cycle, if they can make a payment using the Fuze reCHARGE™ Network by noon Central time, their payment will post without penalty.”

According to a report conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act has curtailed credit card late fees paid by consumers; from $901 million in January 2012, to $427 million in November 2012. However, consumers still find themselves paying $25 for a first late fee violation, and $35 for a second violation within the next six months, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), who holds regulatory responsibility for administering the CARD Act.

“In our analysis of consumer complaints from the CFPB and feedback we've gathered from social media, fees are a huge pain point for credit card customers,” said Steven J. Ramirez, CEO of customer experience firm, Beyond the Arc, Inc. “Customers view late fees as a particular nuisance and are an obstacle in building customer loyalty from the card issuer.”

“Alternative methods to pay a credit card bill take at least two or more days to reach their issuer, and end up costing the consumer an exorbitant fee because they need a quick posting,” said Wilkes. “The Fuze guarantee ensures the customer that their payment – on any credit card type from any card issuer – will post quickly and without penalty.”

Fuze Network’s nominal convenience fee of $3 to process a payment enables cardholders to pay their credit card, deposit cash or load debit cards by swiping their card and paying the cashier. The Fuze reCHARGE Network is available nationwide at thousands of retail locations including Pay-O-Matic, Fidelity Express, the Community Financial Service Centers (CFSC) and ACE Cash Express.

“More than 70 percent of our customers are repeat users of Fuze’s services for their credit card payments,” said Robin Miles, CEO of Pay-O-Matic, the largest financial services chain in New York. “Partnering with Fuze has allowed us to significantly reduce the fee on expedited credit card payments, provide our associates with a faster processing system and offer an affordable credit card payment option for our customers.”

Card issuers will see incentives from the no late fee guarantee in the form of on-time payments and assurance from their customers; building customer loyalty and repeat card usage.

“The ability to make cash payments on a credit card bill isn’t as simple as consumers would like it to be,” said Wilkes. “Our service helps build the relationship between consumer and card issuer – making bill payments a convenient and cost-effective occurrence.”

About Fuze Network

Salt Lake City-based Fuze Network is the nation’s first method to easily send money to any card. The company’s reCHARGE service “fuzes” together existing payments networks to enable users to pay bills, deposit cash or reload prepaid cards by simply swiping the card and paying the cashier. Fuze Network is the easiest, most cost-effective method of increasing retail traffic and building payment transaction volumes. For more information, visit www.fuzenetwork.com.