How Do Late Payments Affect Your Credit?
Grow Credit helps you build credit by reporting consistent, on time payments to the credit bureaus. But what happens if you miss a payment?
Missing or late payments can have a significant effect on your credit and can, ultimately, cost you more money in the long run.
How do late payments affect your credit score?
According to a recent NerdWallet article, a late payment can bring your credit score down by as much as 100 points.
A lower credit score can cause higher interest rates, which may increase the amount you pay over time.
Why do late payments get reported?
Grow Credit will not charge any late penalties or fees, and you have until your next statement to make your payment before it is considered late.
Under the terms of your Grow Credit loan agreement, we reserve the right to report payment delinquencies at or in excess of 30 days to one or more consumer reporting agencies in accordance with applicable law.
What happens when you dispute a late payment with the credit bureaus?
Filing disputes with the credit bureaus is most effective for incorrect information. When you file a dispute, the bureau reaches out to Grow to confirm the filing is accurate.
What should you do if you see a late payment reported on your credit?
If you find late payments from Grow Credit on your credit report, please contact customer support before filing a dispute with the credit bureaus.
Grow Credit offers a Late Payment Forgiveness program that is available to most customers as a one time courtesy. Before reaching out to customer support to request consideration for this program, please make sure your account is active and in good standing. We consider an account in ‘good standing’ when there is no past due balance and a valid payment method on file for automatic payments.
If you have questions about late payments, or to see if you qualify for Grow’s Late Payment Forgiveness program, please reach out to customer support by clicking on the icon on the bottom right-hand corner of the page or by emailing behappy@growcredit.com.
You can read more about your credit on our crash course, Grow & Learn: Credit 101.
