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Uh-oh! You just received your credit card statement, and it shows interest charges and a $38 late fee that you didn’t expect. You realize you’re guilty of making a late credit card payment last month. Or worse, you realize you forgot to send your payment at all. Here’s a rundown of potential impacts that your missed payment may have on your account.
But what exactly does “up to” mean? Federal laws now prohibit credit card issuers from charging late fees that are in excess of the amount due. So if you have a balance of only $12, then your late fee can’t be more than $12.
On the other hand, there are credit cards that charge no late fees at all. In addition, a few cards automatically waive a first late payment. Nevertheless, don’t interpret a late-payment forgiveness policy as an excuse to pay late.
Thankfully, most credit card issuers won’t report payments that are less than 30 days late. And some lenders wait as long as 60 days before reporting late credit card payments.
Just because issuers don’t immediately report a late payment doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Your credit reports show the payment history for all of your credit cards, so check your reports to see whether a late payment has been reported to the bureaus. You’re entitled to a free credit report from each of the credit reporting agencies once a year under federal law.
In between getting your free annual credit reports, you can see how your payment history is affecting your own credit by getting your free score and credit report card on Credit.com.
It’s only human to miss a credit card payment sometime. It’s how quickly you address the error that matters to you, your credit score and your credit card issuer.
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Note: It’s important to remember that interest rates, fees and terms for credit cards, loans and other financial products frequently change. As a result, rates, fees and terms for credit cards, loans and other financial products cited in this article may have changed since the date of publication. Please be sure to verify current rates, fees and terms with credit card issuers, banks or other financial institutions directly.