Missed credit card payment, credit score
Q: I am afraid I just missed credit card payment by one day, may be two, on Capital One. Will that hurt my credit score? The due date was February 10th and I mailed it on the 8th, was on vacation. I called today and they have not received it. The customer rep was a total jerk, telling me that if you missed credit card payment even by day, they will charge $39 dollar late fee and my yearly interest rate will increase by 2.5% percent which should not bother me much because I pay my bill in full monthly. He also said that a missed credit card payment by even one day can hurt credit score. Is that true? I have been with Capital One for close to 3 years, never late. This rudeness and even slightest lack of understanding tick me off, I have $16,000 credit limit which I barely use, so should I just close this card? I have another credit card with Prudential.
A: Before you close it, check your disclosures - what is considered as missed or late payment. Do they have to receive the payment by due date, or the payment must be post marked by it. Chances are Capital One should have had your missed payment by due date, but check it nevertheless. It is highly unusual for a credit card issuer to be so unforgiven. First of all, any missed payment less than 30 day late does not hurt the credit score whatsoever as it is not reported to the credit bureaus. Capital One or any other lender/issuer can increase your rate and slap the late fee, but that is it. Call them and explain the situation. Chances are that rep simply had a bad day or is new on his job, or is a jerk. Regardless, if they insist, try to blame it on post office delay combined with your untimely vacation, point at your stellar history with them, etc. You only worry is to fight off late fee and rate increase, even though you are not worried about the latter.
You should try to keep this card open, precisely because it helps your credit score. You have high credit limit and pay off the little you charge on it, monthly. That means, the credit card utilization rate which is the ratio between the balance and the limit is very low. This helps your credit score quite a bit, especially if you keep that rate constantly low for a prolonged period of time. So closing this Capital One card will likely do more harm than keeping it open with a missed credit card payment that is late by a day or two.
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Fri Feb 12, 2010 11:02AM | Copyright: www.bad-credit-advisor.com | More in Credit Score Help | Comments (0)
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