May 21, 2025 · 10 mins read
Santosh Kumar
Everybody has a long list of responsibilities in life. Life can get busy, and sometimes, you may miss deadlines. Imagine you have realised that you are one day late on your credit card payment. You might feel anxious about the consequences. Late fees, higher interest rates, and damage to your credit score may seem like immediate threats. However, you do not need to panic and worry. You can manage a one-day delay without incurring significant penalties.
Just like any other financial tool, a credit card can be a boon or a bane for you, depending on how well you handle it. While using a credit card may be a little tricky for a few, it is not a challenge to maintain your credit card score while using your credit card. All you need to do is avoid late credit card payments of your bills, and you will be all set.
There are a few things that could happen if your credit card payment is 1 day late or missed altogether, such as:
You could be charged a late payment fee if your payment is late. It’s also important to know that if you pay less than the minimum amount due, it will likely still be considered a late payment even if you pay your bill on time.
According to the CFPB, your credit card issuer can charge a fee anytime you’re late, including your very first late payment. And if you’re late a second time within the next six billing cycles, the company can generally charge an even higher late fee.
Depending on how late a payment is, it could also be reported to the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. And that could affect your credit scores.
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Missing a minimum payment or paying late can increase your balance if a late fee is added to the account. Also, you may continue to be charged interest on your unpaid balance until your card issuer receives your payment in full. So, if you leave a higher amount of your balance unpaid, you’ll owe more interest than if you’d paid off more—or all—of your credit card balance by the due date.
If you're at least 60 days late on your payment, for example, your card issuer might increase the interest rate on your balances. And if your interest rate increases, you'll be charged more interest on your unpaid balance, which will increase your credit card debt even more. But not all issuers use a penalty annual percentage rate (APR) with late payments, and some exceptions apply, so check with your credit card company for more information.
If you don’t pay your credit card bill on time, you might not be able to use your card for new purchases until your account is made current. And if your credit card account goes 180 days—or six months—past due, your card issuer will close and charge off the account. In this case, the account is permanently closed and written off as a loss for the company. But you’ll still owe the debt.
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There may be a few reasons that would lead to credit card delay payments. However, no matter how challenging it gets, you should always try to overcome these reasons and not delay your credit card payments. We have listed a few situations that would lead to delayed repayment-
Insufficient funds – There may be situations when you would spend an excessive amount, considering your credit limit. However, you might not be able to repay the amount even when you receive your salary (this would certainly happen because you spent more than you earn). Such situations are not too difficult to avoid because you would already have a track of your cash inflows and outflows. Hence, you should only spend around 60% of your credit limit and not more than that in order to be able to repay the amount later.
Postal delays – If you haven't opted for online receipt of your bills, then your bank would send your bills to your residential address by post. In such cases, there is a high chance that your bills may get misplaced or get delayed in reaching you. This would eventually lead to a late credit card payment. Hence, it is recommended to turn on your online notifications and to keep a regular check on your email for your credit card overdue.
Procrastination – A lot of people tend to wait till the last minute to pay their bills. While it makes no difference if you pay it before your due date, it is always a better idea to make the bill payments well in advance. This helps you stay away from the risk of missing the bill payment and leaves no chance of being liable to pay heavy interest charges for late credit card payment.
Due date – Even though it is less likely to happen, there may be a few instances where you would get confused with your due date, and eventually miss the payment of you credit card bill. Hence, it is advised that, as and when you receive your monthly statement, you take a deeper look into the billing date and payment due date and set reminders accordingly.
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Reasons why you should not delay paying your pending credit card bills-
Late fee charges – One of the major reasons that you should avoid paying your credit card bill after the due date is to keep away from paying the late fee charges. Banks charge high penalties for late credit card payments, and this is an expense that can be avoided very easily.
High interest rates – Upon non-payment of the credit card bills by more than 60 days, the credit card companies charge interest rates as high as 30% of the credit card overdue. This high interest rate is also applied to the new purchases that you'd make using your credit card. If you continue doing this, in almost no time, the interest on your credit card bill will be more than your actual credit card bill!
Negative impact on credit score – Making late credit card payments leads to a lower credit score, which cancels out the major benefit that a credit card has to offer. Your credit score can be improved by effective usage of your credit card and timely repayment of your bills. It is necessary to have a good credit score in order to ensure that you are eligible for higher loans in the future. Not paying your bills on time will eventually hamper your financial health.
Reduced credit limit – Banks/credit card issuing companies have the right to reduce your credit limit upon multiple defaults in payments or frequent late credit card payment. This will hamper your purchasing power and your financial wellbeing will be disturbed.
Interest on outstanding balances – Contrary to what most credit card holders think, you are not liable to pay only the minimum amount due out of your total credit card bill before the due date. Even though it is widely believed that paying only the minimum balance would not make you liable for interest charges, it is not true. In reality, you will be paying interest on the outstanding amount starting from your due date. Hence, it is strictly advised that you pay your credit card overdue in full.
No interest-free period – Defaults in your credit card payment can lead to the withdrawal of your interest-free period. 'Interest-free period' is basically the time period when your bank actually finances your purchase without any interest. This period can last anywhere between 20-25 days. Late credit card payment will lead the bank to withdraw this facility from your account.
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If you’re having trouble making payments, there are steps you can take to help address the issue before it gets worse.
Since a late payment shouldn’t affect your credit score until it’s gone unpaid for at least 30 days, making your minimum payment before it goes 30 days past due can help prevent further problems.
If you’re having trouble making on-time payments, contact your credit card issuer as soon as possible. They might be able to work with you. In some cases, they may even waive late fees or penalty rates.
Some issuers might even have the option to change your payment due date in the future. If you’re a Capital One cardholder, you can change your payment due date here.
Most credit card issuers offer a grace period for purchases, according to the CFPB. This means new purchase transactions typically won’t start accumulating interest until after your payment due date, which buys you some time between charging things to your card and owing interest on those new charges.
But keep in mind that if you don’t pay off those purchases in full by the billing statement due date, you’ll start accruing interest. And if you don’t make at least the minimum payment due by the due date, you might also owe a late fee.
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Setting up automatic payments can be helpful. You can connect your credit card to a bank account and specify how and when you’d like to transfer your funds to pay off or pay down your balance.
The credit card charges for late payment depend on your card issuer's policies. They are calculated based on your total due amount. So, if you have a high outstanding balance, your late payment penalties may be higher, and vice versa.
As per the mandate by the Reserve Bank of India, credit card issuers can charge a penalty only after three days past the due date. So, if you are 1 day late on paying your credit card bill, the card issuer will mark your bill as 'past due.' However, they will not add late charges.
You can easily find the due date for the bill, along with other details, on your monthly credit card statement. You can also access this information by logging into your card account online or via a mobile app.
In this case, you will have to pay the penalty levied by your issuer. You can also talk to the issuer's representative via customer care to see if you can get an extension.
If you fail to pay the late fee, the penalty amount will be added to the outstanding credit card bill due, and interest will be charged on it. So, yes, if you avoid paying your late fee, the amount will keep increasing over time.
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