What happens when you miss a credit card payment and what can you do about it?
Have you ever thought about what metamorphoses your credit account undergoes when you miss a payment? Here are several things that can happen to your credit card account in case of missed payment.
- The credit card issuer can charge you a late payment fee. Most cards have this fee listed in terms and conditions as a flat rate. However, there are cards for which this fee is tiered meaning the fee will vary based on, for example, your balance. However, according to Federal laws you cannot be charged a late payment fee if this fee exceeds the amount due.
- The credit card issuer can apply a penalty interest rate to your account. In addition to late payment fee you will be “granted” a new, higher penalty interest rate when you miss your payments.
- You can lose your interest-free grace period. If you are one of those cardholders who avoid interest charges by paying off the card balance in full and on time, the credit card issuer can apply the interest charges, along with fees, to your next payment if you fail to pay your statement balance on time.
- Your credit score can be hurt. A late payment can lower your credit score, but it depends. A credit card issuer may or may not report your late payment; it depends on how late it was. Most credit card issuers won’t report late payments that are less than 30 days late, other lenders may wait up to 60 days before reporting late payments.
So, what can you do if you miss a payment?
- The first thing you can do when you realize that you missed a payment is to make an immediate payment. Call the customer service or log in to your account to make it as quick as possible. Make sure the payment was received to increase your chances to get forgiveness from the credit card issuer.
- Another thing is to contact your credit card issuer to explain the circumstances that caused you to pay late. In most cases, many credit card issuers will waive the penalty charges to satisfy their customers.
We all can sometime miss a payment and it is important to make immediate steps to prevent big harm. Another thing you can do is not to let it happen again. To do that you can switch to electronic statements and set payment reminders or even automatic payments.
Latest Credit Card Fees News
The other day Chase announced some changes to their cashback credit card lineup, introducing the Chase Freedom Flex credit card. The new Mastercard credit card boasts no annual fee, 0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months, and a variable 14.99% – 23.74% ongoing APR. Applications for the offer are supposed to be accepted starting […]
While the coronavirus is in no hurry to calm down, people continue to look for any means to reduce costs so that not be left without means of subsistence. If you are an owner of the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, there is some good news for you that you may have missed. As part […]
Thursday, January 30, 2020, all American Express Delta SkyMiles credit cards came out with renewed annual fees and/or benefits. Amex announced the updates back in September, but they were to come into effect only at the end of January. The changes apply to both consumer and business Delta SkyMiles credit cards. The first alteration is […]
Using credit cards, we constantly have to encounter different kinds of fees. So, during the 2019 U.S. News Consumer Credit Card Fee Study, hundreds of credit cards were examined in order to investigate annual fees, cash advance fees, foreign transaction fees, late and returned payment fees, and balance transfer fees more closely.
On October 20, 2019, 9 powerful tornadoes swept through North Texas. Although, fortunately, they brought no casualties, many homes and public buildings, including schools, stores, and business centers, were damaged or even completely destroyed. More than 90,000 local residents were left without electricity. The damage is estimated at about $2 billion. To aid individuals and […]
