I Mailed My Credit Card Payment and They Processed It Late. Will This Hurt My Credit for Years?

If you still mail payments for monthly bills, the processing times on the other side can impact when your payment clears.

What happens if you mail a credit card payment two weeks in advance, only for them to process your payment after the deadline?

That’s what a listener of the Clark Howard Podcast recently asked.

Will a Late Credit Card Payment Due to Slow Processing on a Mailed Check Hurt My Credit Score for Years?

What happens if you mail in a credit card payment and they take too much time to process it? Will it hurt your credit for years to come?

That’s what a Clark listener asked on the March 23 podcast episode.

Asked Frank in Montana: “I have a credit card with one of the super regional banks. It was my first card over 10 years ago, and they’ve always treated me well. But my latest bill shocked me as there was a late fee on it.

“Despite mailing my payment two weeks before the due date, it was processed one day late and assessed a late fee and interest. The fee is just a slap in the face, but what really worries me is the hit my credit could take. Do I have any possible recourse, or have I just learned a hard lesson that will stick with my credit for five to seven years?”

The good news is that Frank’s credit should be fine. A single late payment, rectified in one day, won’t create a long-term negative report on your credit. Nor will it tank your credit score.

“Frank. Don’t worry. Be happy,” Clark says. “This isn’t going to show on your credit because it’s not a 30-day late. It was one day late according to this bank.

“Now. You should call their credit card operation and tell them you’ve never had a late payment. Ask them to remove the late fee and remove the interest charge. And if they don’t do it, I would file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“I can pretty much give you 100% guarantee that the bank then will do a customer accommodation. If they don’t do it in your phone call, they will do it after the complaint at consumerfinance.gov.”

Banks and Financial Companies Often Are Slow To Process Mailed Payments

When Clark was doing TV work, he sent payments via overnight delivery to track how long it took banks to process them.

The way that Clark mailed the checks allowed him to track when the banks received them — and how many days it took for the banks to process and post the payments.

“The average time that a payment was posted was four days after receipt by the bank,” Clark says. “We caught them red-handed and we talked to media relations at the credit card company. And they gave us a bunch of gobbly-gook about why they were posting payments days after they were received.

“The credit card company will blame it on the postal service. Everybody loves to blame everything on the postal service. It was an eye-opener when we did that thing with the overnight delivery and the payments were consistently posted late over and over and over again. Tells you everything you need to know.”

Clark’s Advice: Avoid Late Credit Card Payments By Paying Electronically

Frank can avoid late credit card payments by ditching snail mail and starting to pay his bills electronically.

“The mailing thing … never again. Do not pay bills by mailing in a payment,” Clark says.

“Electronic bill pay is free. Set it up with your bank or credit union. The payment will post electronically. This will never happen again.”

Final Thoughts

If you make a late credit card payment that’s a day or two behind, you shouldn’t face a long-term hit to your good credit score.

However, mailing a check to pay for your bills isn’t the best idea in 2023. Your payment could get lost in the mail. It could lead to a check-washing scam. Or the bank could just move at a glacial pace when processing it.

Electronic payments are safe and easy. Rely on them to make sure you don’t run into an issue with late credit card payments.