Credit
Card Late Payment Fee
Seeing a credit card late payment fee in the agreement disclosure is not surprising.
Almost all companies charge a credit card late payment fee. Though the exact amount varies, the
range is from $15 to $40. Some companies actually impose a tiered approach to enforcing late payment fees. Smaller
credit card balances get smaller fees and vice versa. Citibank and Capital One, for example, charge a credit card
late payment fee of $15 on balances $100 and below, $29 on balances between $100 and $250, and $39 on balances from
$250. Discover, on the other hand, charges $19 of credit card late payment fee on balances $250 and below and $39
on balances that are more than $250.
Technically, a credit card late payment fee is a penalty fee imposed on a cardholder who fails to pay for at least
the required minimum monthly payment of his/her credit card by the due date. A credit card late payment fee is
usually added to the balance when the cardholder decides to pay and is excluded in the minimum amount required.
However, when a cardholder misses a due date, sometimes a credit card late payment fee is not enough for credit
card companies. A default interest rate (which is the highest it can give) is further applied to the account until
such time that the cardholder manages to pay the minimum amount on time within a certain period. This can be
difficult for certain account owners. The card company can also choose to send a report to the credit bureaus that
may result in a drop in the cardholder’s credit score.
Is there a way to avoid paying for a credit card late payment fee? Some card experts say that there are a number of
methods to skip this. According to them, if a cardholder has consistently paid on time and has a good record with
the company and the late payment only happens once, s/he can call and ask them to waive the credit card late
payment fee. For those, however, who aren’t, the best way is to stick to payment rules and regulations. If it
can’t be helped, the cardholder can ask the credit card company to move his/her due to in order to coincide it with
his/her cash flow. S/he can also choose to automatically pay for credit cards bills through a bank account or
online. This way, one can avoid the hassle of mailing checks in envelops that can get lost on the way. Also, if
payment is sent through mail before the due date, the payment should be considered on-time whether or not the
company receives it before or after the due date.
Source: Credit Cards For People With Bad Credit Rating
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