Late Payment?

[Anonymous]

I'm freaking out. I have zero late payments until I logged in a couple hours too late on Citi. Technically, my payment is late by about an hour. It was due on the 3rd, but got posted on the 4th. 

I don't see any fees or an APR spike so I'm not sure if they just let it go since it was literally just a couple hours late. I'm not sure if I should contact them because if I do they might just post a fee if they notice! What should I do?

I'm going for a business loan soon and don't want to be hit with a late payment.

Damn why does Citi have to be the only one without a auto-payment?

[GregB]

You might get a late fee. It is even possible that they could raise your interest or lower your limit. That isn't very likely. You won't get reported late on your CR until you are 30 days late. You would have to not pay that payment and then have the next one come due to get reported as 30-days late.

[haulingthescoreup]

+1  --this will not generate a 30-day late on your reports.

I agree with laying low for now. But if on your next statement, you see a late fee or an increased APR, you can call and grovel (beg, plead, etc) that they give you a one-time courtesy get out of jail free card.

You might want to set this up in your online bank bill pay program, if you have one.

But it is a great example of the dangers of waiting until the due date to pay. (Not lecturing you, just noting. )

[marty56]

Also be mindfull of the time you make the payment.  if they payment is dues on say the 1st by 2pm EST and you pay 2pm CST, they can say it was late and charge you a fee.  Also some CCCs require 48 hours to process a payment so IMHO I would pay no less than 3 days before due.  BTW if you are playing the FICO score game, you also might apply the 3 day rule to the statement drop date as well.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys. I'm turning 23 now, so have had perfect timely payments since I was 18, it's just that with more CC accounts all with different due dates, it can be quite cumbersome.

And I'll see if I can get my bank to set-up auto payments, would take a ton of work off me! 

[haulingthescoreup]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks guys. I'm turning 23 now, so have had perfect timely payments since I was 18, it's just that with more CC accounts all with different due dates, it can be quite cumbersome.

And I'll see if I can get my bank to set-up auto payments, would take a ton of work off me! 

---

Many CCC's will allow you to choose your due date. (certainly not all of them)

You might consider coordinating when your due dates are, along with your other payments (rent, car loan, whatever you have going), with your paychecks. If you're paid biweekly, you can separate out due dates for around the first and around the 15th or 16th. So some folks schedule their mortgage and phone bill for the first of the month, and their car payment, cable, and CC's for mid-month, smoothing out the impact.

It will get out of synch since there are 26 bi-weekly pay periods a year, but at least it clumps your expenses.

[IOBA]

CIti is one the cc's I used to help us through a rough patch.

I send them more than the minimum payment every two weeks.  This way, never late, never miss a payment.    I could pay them off now, but at 0%, I am waiting until the last minute...

In general, I send in payments every two weeks for the creditors.