One late credit card payment can be an annoying blemish on your otherwise beautiful credit report.
How annoying is it that you’ve been working so hard to increase your credit score, and you’ve accidentally forgotten to pay? What happens if you pay your credit card late?
Continue reading this article, and we are going to tell you what to expect when you pay your credit card payment late.
Late Fees
As if you didn’t have enough money to pay each month! Your next credit card statement is going to have a late fee added to it. Depending on the terms of the credit card, it is likely to be around $35 for being late.
If this is the first time that you were late, and it’s an obvious oversight, you might be able to call the credit card company and ask them to waive the late fee. If it’s obvious that you are usually late, they aren’t likely to waive the late fee.
Interest Rate Increase
If you don’t pay your credit card payment for sixty days, your credit card interest rate is going to go into the penalty rate in most cases. Check the terms on your credit card, but most companies will greatly increase the amount that you pay in interest, which makes it even more difficult to pay your bills the following months as debt piles up.
Late Payment Listed on Your Credit Report
As if the extra money you’ll have to put out isn’t enough, your payment is going to be listed on your credit report. Each time that your payment is late by thirty days, your late payment continues to show. Thirty days late, sixty days late, and so on and so forth until the creditor charges it off at one hundred and eighty days late.
Besides the late payment on your credit card being added to your credit report, your credit score is likely to drop. If you are feeling behind and as if you’re drowning in debt, you have been hit by a debt lawsuit already because of defaulting on your credit cards or other loans.
If you can’t deal with this problem on your own, you might consider things like Resolvly help your debt lawsuit, so debt doesn’t take over your life.
Possible Loss of Credit Card Rewards
When you’re late on your credit card payments, you might also lose credit card rewards you’ve accrued. If you depend on credit card rewards, this can be a big hit, so it’s important to communicate with your credit card company and ask them about their points policy.
Having a Late Credit Card Payment Isn’t Fun
Now that you know more about what a late credit card payment means, what are you going to do about it? You’ve likely got a few ideas from the article, and you’re ready to put it into action.
Do you want to learn more things that can help you as you’re navigating your financial life and life in general? Browse our articles, find an article you want to read, drop a bookmark, and come back soon.
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