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Negative balance?!

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Negative balance?!

My capital one card is the one I keep at a low balance, under $10 for AZEO, but I got a referral credit and so now it is reporting at -93 dollars!

Is this going to hurt my credit or should I just charge the amount off quick before it reports?

Message 1 of 16
15 REPLIES 15
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Negative balance?!

Negative balances will be reported as $0.  It will only "hurt" if you have no revolving credit cards reporting a positive balance on your credit reports, but utilization is temporary and as soon as any account reports a positive balance any points lost would be regained.

Message 2 of 16
dragontears
Senior Contributor

Re: Negative balance?!


@Anonymous wrote:

My capital one card is the one I keep at a low balance, under $10 for AZEO, but I got a referral credit and so now it is reporting at -93 dollars!

Is this going to hurt my credit or should I just charge the amount off quick before it reports?


It will show as $0 on your reports 

If it is your "EO" then yes your score will drop due to the AZ penalty. 

Message 3 of 16
Slabenstein
Valued Contributor

Re: Negative balance?!

As @K-in-Boston says, it will report as a $0 balance and only have a negative impact on your scores if you have no other bankcards currently reporting a balance.  But even if that's the case, I don't think it's necessary to go out and quickly spend the $93.  Any points you lose will come back as soon as any of your other cards report a balance, and unless you have an app coming up before then where the difference in points would cost you more than $93 in interest there isn't any real reason to worry about them in the meantime.


Message 4 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Negative balance?!

Okay awesome, is there any timeframe that has to be used by? I use the card for like $6/month for our amazon so it will take a while for it to be used.
Can I just use a different card to add balance to in the meantime to avoid the AZEO penalty?
I am currently trying to secure a mortgage.

Message 5 of 16
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Negative balance?!

Yes, you can use any card that reports prior to your next credit score pull for the mortgage.  As for timeframe on that particular card, you would just need to use the card and allow time for pending charges to finalize and come above $0 prior to the statement closing date.

Message 6 of 16
Slabenstein
Valued Contributor

Re: Negative balance?!

The $93 negative balance won't expire.  At some point Capital One will probably send you a check for whatever of it you haven't used, but then you can just cash the check.  Any of your other bankcards will work for avoiding the AZ penalty (don't use a retail card or true chargecard, if you have any), so you can report your $10 balance on any one of those.  If you have a Discover card, they will do off-cycle reporting, which would let you get a balance reported in probably a handful of days.


Message 7 of 16
HeavenOhio
Senior Contributor

Re: Negative balance?!


@Anonymous wrote:

Okay awesome, is there any timeframe that has to be used by? I use the card for like $6/month for our amazon so it will take a while for it to be used.
Can I just use a different card to add balance to in the meantime to avoid the AZEO penalty?
I am currently trying to secure a mortgage.


@Anonymous, if your Capital One card has a negative balance two months in a row, they may opt to mail you a check to zero you out. If that possibility is inconvenient for you, I'd probably use the card for charges to cover the negative balance.

Message 8 of 16
pinkandgrey
Senior Contributor

Re: Negative balance?!

It will get reported as $0. You're fine! I've had that happen a few times. It's not a problem.

Discover It: 21.5k
Amex Cash Magnet: 18k
Fidelity Visa: 16.5k
Apple Card: 4.25k
Message 9 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Negative balance?!


@Slabenstein wrote:

The $93 negative balance won't expire.  At some point Capital One will probably send you a check for whatever of it you haven't used, but then you can just cash the check.  Any of your other bankcards will work for avoiding the AZ penalty (don't use a retail card or true chargecard, if you have any), so you can report your $10 balance on any one of those.  If you have a Discover card, they will do off-cycle reporting, which would let you get a balance reported in probably a handful of days.


Awesome thank you!! I do have discover so that seems like the safest one to use!

Message 10 of 16
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