A One-Day-Late Payment Won't Affect Your Score
Since payments overdue by fewer than 30 days aren't reported to the credit bureaus, they do not appear on your credit reports, and therefore cannot affect your credit scores.
A one-day late payment typically won't impact your credit score immediately. Most credit card issuers report late payments to credit bureaus only after 30 days. However, interest may accrue, and a pattern of late payments can lead to a lower credit score over time.
The effects of late payments are long-lasting but not permanent. A late payment will be removed from your credit reports after seven years. However, late payments generally have less influence on your credit scores as more time passes.
If this is your first late payment, chances are good that your card issuer may waive the late fee. There are even some cards that automatically waive your first late payment, such as the Discover it® Cash Back, or have no late payment fees at all, like the Citi Simplicity® Card (see rates and fees).
If you find a late payment in your credit reports that shouldn't be there, you can file a dispute and ask the corresponding creditor or credit bureau to remove the inaccurate information. If you want to avoid late payments, consider setting up autopay so you don't have to remember make your credit card payments.
Payment history information typically accounts for nearly 35% of your credit scores, making it one of the single most important factors in calculating your scores. Just one late payment can dramatically lower your credit scores, especially if you have good or excellent credit scores.
Key takeaways. A missed payment less than 30 days late isn't usually reported, but the longer you wait after that, the heavier the hit to your credit score. If you're later than 120 days, your creditor might send the debt to collections and close your account.
If you missed a payment because of extenuating circumstances and you've brought account current, you could try to contact the creditor or send a goodwill letter and ask them to remove the late payment.
Generally, credit card payments that are more than 30 days overdue could be reported to credit bureaus, where they can appear on your credit report for years and affect your credit scores. Beyond its impact on credit, a late credit card payment can also result in late fees, interest charges and rate increases.
Creditors generally report late payments to the credit bureaus once you're at least 30 days late. The exact timing could depend on your account's billing cycle. Missing a payment by a few days won't affect your credit scores, but it could have other consequences, such as late fees and rescinded benefits.
If you only pay the minimum due on your credit card, the remaining balance may accrue interest and increase your credit utilization, which could negatively affect your credit scores and make it harder to get out of debt.
Most credit cards provide an interest-free grace period of around 21 days starting from the day your monthly statement is generated, to the day your payment is due. However, if you don't pay it during that time, an interest charge will go into affect and you will end up with a balance that rolls over to the next month.
It may also characterize a longer credit history with a few mistakes along the way, such as occasional late or missed payments, or a tendency toward relatively high credit usage rates. Late payments (past due 30 days) appear in the credit reports of 33% of people with FICO® Scores of 700.
Generally speaking, the reporting date is at least 30 days after the payment due date, meaning it's possible to make up late payments before they wind up on credit reports. Some lenders and creditors don't report late payments until they are 60 days past due.
A late payment will typically fall off your credit reports seven years from the original delinquency date.
A 700 credit score is considered a good score on the most common credit score range, which runs from 300 to 850. How does your score compare with others? You're within the good credit score range, which runs from 690 to 719.
Even if this is the first and only your payment is late by 30 days, it can still impact your score—by about 100 points or more, depending on the scoring model and your current credit score.
A FICO® Score of 650 places you within a population of consumers whose credit may be seen as Fair. Your 650 FICO® Score is lower than the average U.S. credit score. Statistically speaking, 28% of consumers with credit scores in the Fair range are likely to become seriously delinquent in the future.
The time it takes to raise your credit score from 500 to 700 can vary widely depending on your individual financial situation. On average, it may take anywhere from 12 to 24 months of responsible credit management, including timely payments and reducing debt, to see a significant improvement in your credit score.
The process is easy: simply write a letter to your creditor explaining why you paid late. Ask them to forgive the late payment and assure them it won't happen again. If they do agree to forgive the late payment, your creditor should adjust your credit report accordingly.
There are some differences around how the various data elements on a credit report factor into the score calculations. Although credit scoring models vary, generally, credit scores from 660 to 724 are considered good; 725 to 759 are considered very good; and 760 and up are considered excellent.
This may happen even if we credit your payment to your Account. We may resubmit and collect returned payments electronically. If necessary, we may adjust your Account to correct errors, process returned and reversed payments, and handle similar issues.