I opened my first credit card account in 2010 while I was still in college. Prior to that, I paid for everything with either cash or a debit card. Looking back, I always get frustrated thinking about all of the points and miles I missed out on back then.
Anyway, since opening that first credit card account I’ve paid for nearly everything with a credit card. Sure it may seem like I’ve been paying with a credit card because I want the points, but it actually as more to do with security. I’d much rather have my credit card number stolen than my debit card. Credit cards add a layer of protection between me and a hacker.
I’ve Never Missed A Credit Card Payment
Since I’ve paid for everything with my credit card, that also means that I have to pay down my credit card each month. It might surprise you, but I don’t use autopay. Instead, I open up my statement each month, look over the charges, and submit payment. I’ve been doing this since 2010 and I’ve never once missed a payment.
Never missing a payment with one card is easy, but maintaining that with 7 open card accounts is a bit tougher. So, I’ve called all my card issuers and moved my statement closing date to the same day. This way, I know to log-in once per month to all of my card accounts and pay them each down individually. Sure, sometimes I have to stretch my payment a few days, but overall, I’ve managed to pay each statement balance, in full, each month.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and things have gotten a bit weird. For starters, my spending is all over the place. I used to put most of my spending on either my American Express Platinum or Gold cards, but now I’m putting a ton of spend on my Chase Freedom and Citi Double Cash cards. Additionally, I’ve also completely lost track of time and space. I have no idea what day it is or what the date is today.
I Missed My First Credit Card Payment
This twisting of time and space has completely disrupted my monthly routine. Instead of paying all of my credit card bills at the month, I randomly decided to pay them all down in mid-April. This seemed like a great idea at the time as I would then have a $0 balance across my card accounts with nothing due in Mid-May. In fact, after I paid down my cards a few credits posted to my accounts and American Express actually owed me money!
After paying down all of my card accounts in mid-April, I knew I didn’t owe anything else in mid-May and I stopped paying attention to my card accounts. However, I failed to realize that a recurring charge of $40 snuck onto my Citi Double Cash card right before the statement closed. This card posted to my card just before my statement closed which meant I actually did owe Citi some money on May 14, 2020.
Fast forward to May 15, 2020 and it was about time for me to pay down all my credit card balances again. So, I logged into my card accounts and began submitting payment. Keep in mind, I was again doing this mid-month before my statements closed. The plan again was to pay down all my cards before my statements closed to again owe $0.
Well, as I was paying down my Citi Double Cash card I received a prompt that the payment date I selected (5/15/20) was past my payment due date! Sure enough, I somehow missed paying the $40 charge in time and I officially missed my first ever credit card payment.
What Now?
Typically when you miss a payment date the credit card companies charge a late fee. Additionally, the card issuer will charge interest on any credit balances that age past your payment due date. So, in theory I should owe Citi a late fee and some interest.
Thankfully, a few days after I submitted payment I received an email from Citi which forgave my late payment. The email informed me that because this was my first missed payment Citi would waive the late fee. This is obviously good news, but I’m still curious to see how this will affect my credit score. I’m nervous that this one late payment could negatively impact my score if this is reported to the credit bureaus.
How To Not Miss Credit Card Payments In The Future?
When I first sat down to write this post I was a bit frustrated with Citi. Every other credit card account I have provides a payment due date notice a few days before payment is due. As far as I know, these email reminders are automatic as I’ve never had to set them up manually before. So, I was extremely frustrated that Citi did not provide the same type of payment protection. However, as I combed through my card account benefits, I discovered that Citi does offer payment reminder emails and I just needed to turn them on.
Citi doesn’t exactly make finding these payment reminders easy, but they are available. In fact, all credit card issuers offer some type of payment reminders with many offering either email or text message reminders. I’d recommend setting these up on all card accounts to ensure you never miss a credit card payment again. I’ve personally setup email reminders on all of my accounts that send 5 days before my payment due date. This way, if I have a payment due that I’ve forgotten about I’ll remember to pay it. In fact, some of these payment reminder emails provide a link to the card payment page which make paying even easier.
Final Thoughts
Missing a payment is never fun, but it happens. Thankfully, most credit card issuers offer automatic late payment forgiveness for your first missed payment. After that, the card issuer may charge a late fee for any missed payment. Even so, I’d always recommend calling the credit card issuer as they are often able to waive these late fees quite easily if they aren’t habitual.
Finally, I’d recommend combing through all of your card accounts to verify that payment reminder emails are setup. These emails have saved me a few times in the past and hopefully now I’ll never miss a credit card payment again.
