Your credit card statement will typically come in the mail, but if you’ve opted for online, or paperless billing statements), you’ll either receive an email statement or you’ll need to log on to your credit card issuer’s website to check your statement. When you review your statement, you’ll find several different categories of information providing detail on a variety of account characteristics, described below. This section includes your minimum payment and payment due date. If you pay less than the minimum or your payment is received after the due date, you could be charged a late fee, have your interest rate increased if you’re 60 or more days late, and have late payment added to your credit report. The late payment warning disclosure explains specifically what will happen if your payment is late. You’ll find out the amount of the late fee and the penalty APR that could be applied to your account if you don’t make the minimum payment by the due date. The late payment warning shows on every cardholder’s billing statement regardless of the current payment status; it doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. If you had been late on a previous payment, the payment information section would include a past due amount. The credit card issuer isn’t allowed to raise your APR to the penalty rate unless you’re 60 days delinquent on your payment. In other words, not until you’ve missed two payments. Once the penalty rate goes into effect, it will remain until you’ve made six consecutive timely payments. Then, it will be lowered, at least for your existing balance. Some credit card issuers leave the penalty rate in place for new purchases made after the rate was triggered. The late payment warning does not include the credit reporting consequences of late payments. After your payment is 30 days past due, the past-due account status may be reported to a credit bureau. Once you bring your account current again, the account status will show that you’re caught up on payments, but your credit report will continue to show the late payment for seven years. The warning must also include the monthly payment needed to pay off your balance in 36 months and the total amount you’ll pay if you make that payment. If you decide to make the minimum payment after reading this section, you do so knowing that it’s going to take the maximum amount of time and you’ll end up paying the maximum amount of interest. The second box, showing the 3-year payoff payment, lets you know the amount of savings you’d receive by increasing your payment. Keep in mind that credit counseling offers a long-term solution to your credit card repayment. If your financial problems are short-term, first call your credit card issuer to see if you can postpone your payment a few days and avoid a penalty. Details about the changes might also be mailed in a separately, so make sure you read all the inserts included with your statement and any extra correspondence from your card issuer. You can also give your card issuer a call to let them know your new address or even change it online if your credit card issuer’s website allows you to. Since only the transactions from your most recently completed billing cycle will be listed, you’ll have to refer to previous billing statements for older transactions. Transactions made after the billing cycle end date will appear on your next billing statement.
