Late credit card payment

[dirtbiker]

I pay my credit card in full every month to avoid any interest charges. I just paid my credit card in full today, one day late. I was traveling and it just simply slipped my mind. I got hit with a $35 late fee, of course.

But my question is how will the interest be calculated? Will it accrue based on the date of purchase? Or will I have basically one day of interest charges, since I was one day late? My balance this month was roughly $8000, which if it's from the dates of purchase, will mean I'll have about $100 in interest tacked on as well. If it's only one day, it will be just a few dollars.

The other question is moving forward, will next month be interest free if I pay off the balance on time? Or will I need another billing cycle to reset the grace period? If it's the latter, I'll make purchases this month on my debit card instead to avoid any interest charges.

The card is a Chase Sapphire Preferred. I looked over the fine print, and didn't really see what I was looking for, but there's a lot to read and miss.

[njhowie]

Call the 800 phone number on the back of the card, explain it's the first time this has happened in your life, they'll confirm on their computer screen, and ask if they could do you a favor and reverse the late fee.

They will do it.

[dirtbiker]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm in Europe with the army right now, and calling is difficult (I use Whatsapp to call home to another phone with Whatsapp installed, but calling landlines is expensive), but I'll send them an email and report back.

[Another Reader]

Deployed? You bet they will reverse that late fee!

[kaneohe]

You might want to consider autopaying this to prevent future incidents. Of course it's not guaranteed unless you have adequate funds in the bank account

[GalaxyBoy]

I had a similar issue with Amex just the other day. Somehow the automatic payment from my bank posted a day late with Amex even though the bank (Schwab) showed it as on time. Anyway, I used the online chat with Amex and even before I could fully explain the situation they reversed the late fee. I bumped my automatic payment settings to pay a few days earlier, which it should have been in the first place, I suppose.

Try using the online chat with your card company, assuming they have one. Also, see if you can set up the bill to be automatically paid by your bank, or automatically drafted by the card (a feature I'm not fond of, but I use for a card I have that doesn't link bills to my bank).

[jollystomper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by njhowie Call the 800 phone number on the back of the card, explain it's the first time this has happened in your life, they'll confirm on their computer screen, and ask if they could do you a favor and reverse the late fee. They will do it.

+1

This has happened to me with Chase once, I called, they said no problem, we will remove the fee, thank you for being a long time customer.

[scrabbler1]

Calling is also a good idea for other payments, such as utilities. A few years ago, when my dad suffered a hip injury and was in the hospital and rehab center for 3 weeks I had to scramble around to make sure his bills got paid. One of them I overlooked for a week and it got paid a few days late. The late fee was trivial (about $2) but when I called with a question about setting up an automatic bill-pay for him, I mentioned his situation and the nice lady reversed the late fee.

[Aerides]

Wait till you can call, chance of a removal is higher. And wait until the billing cycle fully closes, so you won't have to call 3 times. Mention you're deployed, and timezones are different, etc., if you get any pushback.

Most likely, with no action, it's going to sting much worse than the $35. First, they'll charge the interest on the current $8k, but they will also charge into next billing cycle too, since you (with most cards) eliminated your accrual grace period for upcoming charges once you "carried" a balance.

But if this is rare they will very likely correct this in a quick chat.

[audreyh1]

They will reverse it. Call ASAP.

[retiredunder50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerides Wait till you can call, chance of a removal is higher. And wait until the billing cycle fully closes, so you won't have to call 3 times. Mention you're deployed, and timezones are different, etc., if you get any pushback. Most likely, with no action, it's going to sting much worse than the $35. First, they'll charge the interest on the current $8k, but they will also charge into next billing cycle too, since you (with most cards) eliminated your accrual grace period for upcoming charges once you "carried" a balance. But if this is rare they will very likely correct this in a quick chat.

+1


Also, be aware that late payments (although, at least 30 days late) can impact credit scores by as much as 100 points. This in turn can impact your homeowners and auto insurance premiums; future employment opportunities; clearance; bank and home loan rates... pay early or automate if possible.

[Aerides]

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredunder50 +1 Also, be aware that late payments (although, at least 30 days late) can impact credit scores by as much as 100 points...

Almost zero worry of that here. The definitions of where a bank will charge you fees and interest vs. report as late to a credit bureau are quite different, at least with any major card.

Late by missing the "pay by date" - will not even register as the typical 30-days late. Most banks set the pay by at 25 days. Paying at day 27 would probably never be reported to a credit bureau.

Late by missing the billing close and actually getting a new bill with the old balance? Maybe, but most banks don't report late or slow pay until 60 days, 2 full cycles.

[cathy63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirtbiker I pay my credit card in full every month to avoid any interest charges. I just paid my credit card in full today, one day late. I was traveling and it just simply slipped my mind. I got hit with a $35 late fee, of course. But my question is how will the interest be calculated? Will it accrue based on the date of purchase? Or will I have basically one day of interest charges, since I was one day late? My balance this month was roughly $8000, which if it's from the dates of purchase, will mean I'll have about $100 in interest tacked on as well. If it's only one day, it will be just a few dollars. The other question is moving forward, will next month be interest free if I pay off the balance on time? Or will I need another billing cycle to reset the grace period? If it's the latter, I'll make purchases this month on my debit card instead to avoid any interest charges. The card is a Chase Sapphire Preferred. I looked over the fine print, and didn't really see what I was looking for, but there's a lot to read and miss.

I agree that you should try to get the payment back dated by a day.

But to answer your original question in case that doesn't happen, interest accrues from the first day of the billing period, not the payment due date. Check your statement, but you should see something like "Opening/Closing Date 9/23/2019-10/22/2019" and "Payment Due Date 11/17/2019". Chase will calculate the daily interest for each day starting on 10/23 and going through the end of the current billing period around 11/22 and add that to your next statement. Because the previous payment was late, you'll also pay interest for every day of the next cycle from 11/23 until payment in full is received, so make that payment right away rather than waiting until the due date.

[Alan]

Earlier this year I missed a payment on my Amex and had an email saying the late fee was $35. When I checked my account the autopay was turned off, something I would never have done deliberately. I was ready to plead my case but never had to as despite the email telling me of the $35 penalty it was never charged to my account.

[dirtbiker]

I sent them an email explaining what happened. I'll report back what they say.

I haven't set up auto pay because I pay the current balance, not the statement balance, and with auto pay I can only pay the statement balance. In the end, it works out to the same thing, but I feel better paying the current balance. I know, kind of trivial, but that's why I haven't done it.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirtbiker it works out to the same thing, but I feel better paying the current balance. I know, kind of trivial, but that's why I haven't done it.

I don't see the benefit. All my credit cards are on autopay for the statement balance. Been doing that for years and never had a problem.

[Go-NoGo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirtbiker Thanks for the suggestion. I'm in Europe with the army right now, and calling is difficult (I use Whatsapp to call home to another phone with Whatsapp installed, but calling landlines is expensive), but I'll send them an email and report back.

Get Google Voice - calling US landline numbers is free. I have used it many times overseas without any problems!

[dirtbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister I don't see the benefit. All my credit cards are on autopay for the statement balance. Been doing that for years and never had a problem.

I don't either... I just like doing it this way. The credit card is one of the few bills that I don't have set to autopay. Truthfully, I should just set it up and not give statement vs current balance another thought. Though, I do worry that I might get lazy and not go through all my charges before paying if it's on autopilot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Go-NoGo Get Google Voice - calling US landline numbers is free. I have used it many times overseas without any problems!

Good to know! Thanks!

[zinger1457]

I have a fairly new Amex card with Navy Federal CU, they don't allow autopay and always show $0 due even after the new statement is released. Got dinged one time for interest charges but had it reversed. They said they show $0 due as a service and it's OK not to pay your balance due at the end of the each month, but they will charge you interest. Got the card because of a bonus offer but will dump it fairly soon.

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister I don't see the benefit. All my credit cards are on autopay for the statement balance. Been doing that for years and never had a problem.

I use the bill as a chance to give the account a more thorough look, but as soon as the bill is available I schedule the payment for the statement balance, to be paid on the due date. I should also move it to autopay, as I could still review the account every month, except there was a time when we Blew That Dough that I had to shift around money in order to pay it in full that month.

The heck with it, I'm going to set up autopay! I get emails about every charge anyway, it's not like I'm going to miss something!