topic Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)... in Credit Cards

First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

colinstu — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 11:58:29 GMT

For some reason I thought I'd forget all about paying this card. Payment was due on the 2nd, but didn't notice until the 4th and paid it then. I tried changing the due date but the website breaks when I try doing that. What should I / can I do? Will there not be any repercussions if it's only 2 days late? Was a ~$120 balance, don't want to be charged a late fee and ESPECIALLY don't want my credit report/score affected.

Thanks

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

coldnmn — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:10:47 GMT

To report to credit agency it has to be 30 days late. You could try calling and explaining the situation they may waive the fee. Good Luck!

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

kevinjjc — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:14:11 GMT

It won't affect your credit reports or scores since it's not more than 30 days late, but Citi will charge a late fee. Just give them a call and they will most likely reverse the late fee since it's your first late payment.

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

colinstu — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:17:05 GMT

Thanks for replying back guys.

I sent them a secure message a little bit ago and they replied saying that my due date was successfully changed and if I was charged a late payment, it would be on my next statement.

Should I call them before or after this late fee shows up? Will the penalty APR be reported and hurt my credit score either?

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

coldnmn — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:31:38 GMT

It shouldn't affect your credit score. It's to bad you didn't call to start with and explain the situation. They would have been more likely to reverse the late. I would call them now and explain it was your first late and what happened and ask them if they could reverse the late charge.

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

colinstu — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:41:51 GMT

Should I use the number on the back of my card or is there a better one?

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

kevinjjc — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:46:10 GMT

Call them once the late fee appears online. You don't need to wait until you see the late fee on your next statement. If you have it taken care of before your next statement generates, you will see both, the late fee and reversal.

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

kevinjjc — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:45:15 GMT

@colinstu wrote:
Should I use the number on the back of my card or is there a better one?

Regular customer service should be able to help you with this situation.

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 15:33:11 GMT

And set up autopay! While they probably will waive a late fee the first time if you have a history of on-time payment, the second time they may be less forgiving. Auto-pay prevents these problems, and doesn't stop you also paying before statement cuts if you wish.

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

colinstu — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 15:59:42 GMT

I would set that up but last I checked you could only set it to pay the minimum or a fixed amount... never the full balance (whatever that might be). I don't want to carry a balance nor have a negative balance.

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

colinstu — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 16:01:08 GMT

@kevinjjc wrote:
@colinstu wrote:
Should I use the number on the back of my card or is there a better one?
Regular customer service should be able to help you with this situation.

Called CS. They said everything looks fine and that she didn't see any late charge (nor do I... yet anyways). Guess it's a waiting game to see what the statement will say.

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

lecorps4fun — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 16:14:24 GMT

I'm going to echo what others are saying... Setup automatic payment for minimum. This prevents you from accidentally forgetting to pay at least you're minimum.

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 16:15:02 GMT

Give it about a couple weeks and then call again. They should be able to waive the late fee. Also make sure they didn't hike your APR to the penalty rate. If they did, have them reverse that too.

Set up autopay for the minimum amount. Any additional balance you can pay it off on your own manually on top of that. That way, you are at least making payments on time if you forget about it again.

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 16:21:00 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Set up autopay for the minimum amount. Any additional balance you can pay it off on your own manually on top of that. That way, you are at least making payments on time if you forget about it again.

Mmm, I think, providing you have the funds, it's best to set up autopay for the full statement balance. The whole point of autopay is to handle the case where you forget to pay. Setting it to minimum allows you to avoid late charges and penalty APRs. Setting it to full also allows you to avoid interest charges.

And you can always pay before the statement cuts anyway.

Not sure why you are seeing only minimum or fixed amount. All of my citi accounts show

Minimum Payment Due as shown on your statement
Statement Balance in Full as shown on your statement
Other Amount: $

($20 minimum, not to exceed the Total Balance as shown on your statement)
If the amount chosen is less than the Minimum Payment Due and
you do not make additional payments, your account will be past due.

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

colinstu — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 16:25:42 GMT

Oh wow, full balance is an option! Just turned that on... I must be thinking of a different CC company. Does it pay on the due date or before? Has the system ever messed up and did it late?

Re: First late payment (2 days late, with Citi)...

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 16:29:34 GMT

It does it on the due date. I haven't had it mess up ever from any issuer, but the point about doing it from their site is that it is then their responsibilty (assuming there are funds in the bank of course!).