It’s the end of the month and you just realized that you didn’t make your credit card payment that was due two weeks ago. Or, you opened your billing statement to find a late fee for a payment you thought you made\u2014but didn’t. An accidental missed payment can happen to anyone. However, contacting your creditor sooner than later about a missed payment is the right course of action to help mitigate late fees or penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make the payment as soon as you can.<\/strong> Paying a missed payment a few days after the due date versus waiting for the next billing statement will generally prevent a late payment from being reported to the credit bureaus. Creditors typically report delinquent payments once they become at least 30 days late, so making your payment before your delinquency reaches the 30-day mark will provide you a little credit card help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Call and ask for leniency.<\/strong> If you check your account online, you’ll probably see that a late fee has already been applied. In fact, some card issuers generate the late fee just minutes after 5 p.m. on your due date. And although the Credit Card Act of 2009 capped credit card late fees, always avoid a late fee whenever possible. After all, keeping more of your hard-earned money in your pocket only makes sense!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many creditors are willing to waive a late fee\u2014assuming you are not habitually late on payments. Contact your creditor, explain the mishap, and ask that your late fee be waived. If they won’t provide this credit card help, simply take it as a lesson learned, pay the fee, and be sure to send your next and all subsequent payments on time\u2014every month. And remember perpetually late payments will hurt your credit score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news is you don’t have to worry about having your interest rate increased just because you were late with one payment\u2014unless it is a promotional rate. The Credit Card Act of 2009 specifies that creditors can’t impose a penalty rate increase unless you have missed two consecutive payments. Thus, in most cases, your current rate is safe. The bad news, however, is that you’ll typically forfeit any promotional rate if you miss a payment\u2014for any reason. A creditor who’s willing to waive a late fee might not be as forgiving when it comes to upholding your promotional rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n