Dear ENI,

There is something called an “active duty alert” that your boyfriend could add to his credit history, but it won’t do what you have in mind.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) established a special alert for members of the armed forces who are deployed away from home. The alert is intended to add additional protection against fraud and identity theft for our soldiers abroad.

An active duty alert notifies prospective lenders that you are deployed and that no credit should be granted in your name without verifying your identity. The alert doesn’t extend payment deadlines or help with late payments.

The Service Members Civil Relief Act of 2003, may provide some relief with reduced minimum payments while he is on active duty, but he would still have to make payments by the due date. His military advisors should be able to provide more information about that.

If he cannot simply or easily mail a check, there are a number of options your boyfriend should consider to help make sure his payments are made on time. The first, but perhaps least reliable, is to have you, a trusted friend or other family members manage his bills while he is deployed. That means he would have to provide access to his checking account and rely on someone to make sure the bills were paid every month.

A second option is to use electronic bill payment. In some cases, our soldiers have Internet access. If so, he may be able to pay his bills remotely online. However, he would have to have to be in a location where he could make the transactions himself through a computer connection.

The third option is automatic bill payment. He may be able to have his creditors automatically deduct payment directly from his bank account each month. That would ensure his bills are paid on time. The only thing he would have to do then is ensure his paycheck was deposited before the payments were taken out.

If he can have his pay automatically deposited, he wouldn’t have to worry about his bills always being paid on time.

Thanks for asking.