What are the consequences of not making a payment on your credit card by the due date?
Sophia Koch
Updated on February 13, 2026
If you don’t pay your credit card bill, expect to pay late fees, receive increased interest rates and incur damages to your credit score. If you continue to miss payments, your card can be frozen, your debt could be sold to a collection agency and the collector of your debt could sue you and have your wages garnished.
How can I clear my credit card debt?
7 Ways by You Can Pay Off your Credit Card Debts
- Make a note of all the debts to be paid.
- Prioritizing.
- Paying the card bill with the least balance.
- Getting a credit card with low APR.
- Taking a loan to pay off credit card debts.
- Converting outstanding bill to EMIs.
- Paying off your bills on a regular basis.
How do I make sure I don’t miss a credit card payment?
4 Ways to Make Sure You Never Miss a Credit Card Payment
- Use tools to help you remember. Sometimes payments are missed because of a simple oversight — you may forget when they are due and not make them on time.
- Change your payment due date.
- Pay off your charges as you make them.
- Track your card spending.
What to do if you have trouble paying your credit card debt?
This may be a good option for you if the reason you’re having trouble paying credit card debt is due to illness, job loss, natural disaster, or another temporary hardship. You may be able to arrange for lower minimum payments, interest rates, and fees, and you may be able to suspend payments without penalty for a limited period of time.
What happens if you miss a payment on a credit card?
But some card providers charge interest on purchases straight away, and most will charge interest straight away on money you withdraw from a cash machine. If you miss payments, you’ll get late payment charges on top of the interest.
What happens if you have persistent credit card debt?
If you have a persistent debt, your credit card company will write to you and ask you to increase your monthly payment. Some credit card companies are changing their terms and conditions to increase the minimum payment in order to get customers out of persistent debt.
What happens to minimum payment on credit card?
This is because the minimum payment is a percentage of the debt that’s left on the card – so the minimum payment gets smaller as you pay off the debt. If you can’t afford the same amount each month, try to pay a bit more than the minimum if you can. This means you’ll clear the debt sooner and pay less interest overall.