What Happens If You Do Not Pay Your Credit Card
The first missed payment
Miss the due date and you get a late fee (often up to about $40), while interest keeps building. A payment a few days late is usually not reported, but once it is 30 days past due the issuer can report it, and a late payment can drop your score sharply and stay on your report for up to seven years. Setting up autopay for at least the minimum prevents this.
It gets worse the longer you wait
Continued non-payment escalates. The issuer may apply a penalty APR, and at 60 and 90 days past due the credit damage deepens. Around 180 days the account is typically charged off: the issuer writes it off as a loss, closes it, and often sells the debt to a collections agency that will pursue you for it.
How to get ahead of it
If you cannot pay, call the issuer before you miss the payment. They have hardship programs, and asking beats going silent. Pay at least the minimum to avoid the worst reporting, then tackle the balance with the methods in how to pay off credit card debt. Acting early, while you still have options, is everything. See also should you carry a balance.
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