Late credit card payment

wasted pixels

I paid my credit card bill on Thursday. I thought. I authorized a payment on their website at least, and assumed it was taken care of. This is a pretty non-eventful transaction (I do it the same way every month), and I've never had any problems, so naturally I didn't bother to jot down the transaction reference number. I noticed today that the payment apparently never left my bank account, so I checked against my credit card statement online, and it looks like for whatever reason my payment never went through. There's no sign of it anywhere. I went ahead and resubmitted the payment, but since it was due yesterday, I'm betting I'll be dinged with a late fee.

Now, I'm not too worried about a $20-something late fee, but I am worried about a potential hit to my credit. I've never had a single black mark on my record so far, and naturally I'd like to keep it that way. I'm planning on calling my issuer tomorrow to discuss the issue, but I'm not 100% sure what to say. While I don't feel like I'm at fault here, saying that their website didn't save my payment sounds an awful lot like "the check was in the mail". Would I be better off just saying it slipped my mind? What's the best approach here?

Again, not at all worried about the fees, I just want to protect my credit.

localh77

Your credit won't get dinged until you're 30+ days late, so no need to worry there. As far as the late fee, it's worth a shot to call. I would just tell them exactly what happened, and who knows, they might waive the fee.

blakfeld

I've been two/three weeks late before, and I have perfect credit, you'll be fine

RUNN1NGMAN

Keep an eye on your interest rate. Even if they don't hit you with a fee your rate may get increased to the maximum.

Dunadan019

usually, you won't get a late fee unless you are more than a certain number of dollars late or are consistently late.

your credit will be fine.

matt has a problem

Late payments only affect your credit on most cards if you pay late twice in a 12 month period. Most companies have an "everybody gets one" rule, for cases just like this. While you might still get a late payment fee, your interest rate shouldn't go up and credit score shouldn't go down.

bowen

Mmm, I'd even say as long as you actually pay it, and you're late, you'll be fine. The ones that get dinged are the ones that are chronically late by a month or two, or never pay at all.

Szechuanosaurus

If your card issuer offers the facility, I'd recommend signing up for the automatic minimum payment direct debit. No matter what happens, the minimum required payment (usually $5) will always be debited directly saving you any fees and only leaving you to worry about interest should you not make your payment on the due date for whatever reason.

Hypatia

What people in the thread said, it won't count as late unless you're around 30 days late.

The other thing is if you call up your credit card company and explain what happened and ask if they can waive the late fee, they often will, especially if you have good credit and a history of good credit. They'd rather let you slide on the $20 and have you keep using their card than have you switch to a different bank.

wasted pixels

Thanks for talking me down, everyone, I've been kind of a nervous wreck about this since last night.

Szechuanosaurus wrote: »

If your card issuer offers the facility, I'd recommend signing up for the automatic minimum payment direct debit. No matter what happens, the minimum required payment (usually $5) will always be debited directly saving you any fees and only leaving you to worry about interest should you not make your payment on the due date for whatever reason.

This is an excellent idea, and something I'll check on immediately.

Hypatia wrote: »

The other thing is if you call up your credit card company and explain what happened and ask if they can waive the late fee, they often will, especially if you have good credit and a history of good credit. They'd rather let you slide on the $20 and have you keep using their card than have you switch to a different bank.

I'm going to give it a shot, but given the state of the credit market right now, I think I'll be doing pretty good if they don't use this as an excuse to jack my APR up to 59.9%.

Question answered, I think. Thanks again, everyone!

DVG

I can't find the article, but I read on the economist a while back that many banks have adopted economic turmoil programs which basically say that if you are wise enough to ask, they'll waive late and overage fees. So call and ask.

Demerdar

You'll be fine, as long as you aren't weeks late on a payment you will be okay.