When Do Missed Payments Go On My Credit Report?

One question I always found myself wondering about is when is a credit card payment is really considered late and will affect my credit score.  A lot of people think that if their charge card bill is due on the 28th, and the payment is made on the 30th, then the payment is late, and their credit score is going to be hit.

The payment is two days late.  You are going to get nailed with a late fee, but that's about it.  It's not going to be reported to the credit agency, and its not going to show up on your credit report to really hurt your credit.  The only thing that's going to happen at this point is on your next statement your minimum payment is going to do be a lot more (It will equal two payments, and the late fee).

Because creditors have to wait at least thirty days before they can report late payments, the only way a late payment is going to affect your credit score is if you don't pay your past due balance within 30 days of the day it was due, not the statement date.

For Example;

You have a Capital One credit card with a statement date of December 11th, and a payment of $25.00 due on January 1st.  You don't make the payment, and Capital One hits you with a $25.00 late fee.   The statement date has nothing to do with anything.  The only date you need to be concerned with, is the payment due date of January 1st.

So, you will have until January 31st to pay the bill without it ever showing up as a late payment on your credit report.  Your next Capital One credit card statement comes on January 11th, and a payment of $75 is due on January 31st.  This payment consists of the missed payment (the past due amount of $25), the late fee ($25), and the current month's payment ($25).  Since the new due date is January 31st, as long as you make this months payment of $75 , nothing will show up on your credit report as late.


Okay, so now that we have an understanding of when payments are really late, let's get into it a little bit more.  It's one thing if you missed a payment because you were lazy, and just forgot to make the payment.  It's a whole other ballpark if you have very little money to make the payment.


I didn't have enough to make last month's payment and this month they want twice as much.  If I don't pay the whole payment, am I going to be marked late?

This is a horrible situation for you to be in, and a fantastic situation for the credit card company.  The truth is, as long as you make the original missed payment (the past due amount), the thirty day countdown starts over for the the new payment.

For Example;

You missed last month's Capital One bill of $25 that was due on January 31st.  You received your February statement on February 11th that wants a minimum payment of $75 due on February 28th.  This was the past due amount ($25), the late fee for the missed payment ($25), and February's payment ($25).  You know there is no way you are going to be able to get the $75 payment, but you want to keep the late payment from your credit report.

So you make a $25 payment.  This takes care of the past due amount, for all intensive purposes resets the late day calculator.  Now things are going to get interesting.

On March 10th, you get your Capital One statement.  It shows that you made a payment of $25, but still charges you a late fee of $25 (you will always get hit with a late fee if you don't make the minimum payment).  Now, they want a minimum payment of $100 due on March 30th.  This consists of last month's missed payment, last months late fee, this months payment, and this months late fee.

Now you are in some trouble, because your account is $50 past due.  This means that you have to make a payment by March 30th of $50 to keep your account 'current' and prevent it from being reported as 30 days late.  Hopefully you can get yourself out of this jam and make the full $100 payment.

This is not a good habit to get into.  BillMeLater had me doing this for several months, and I learned my lesson real well.  Credit card companies love this, because not only are they getting interest from you, they are also getting a late fee.  Don't fall into their trap, and get into this cycle, especially considering most minimum payments are a lot higher than $25.