One of the best things you can do for your credit is to pay off your balance in full and on time every month. This keeps you from having to pay interest and shows lenders that you can handle your credit well.
But what happens if you accidentally pay more than you owe on your credit card? Will overpaying hurt your credit score?
It’s good to know that overpaying your credit card bill usually won’t hurt your credit. Read on to learn how overpayments hurt your credit score, what happens when you do it, and how to avoid it.
How Credit Card Overpayments Occur
It’s easy to overpay your credit card by accident. Here are some common ways it happens:
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You pay twice – For example, you make your normal monthly payment but forget and submit another payment a few days later.
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You add an extra digit – When typing in the payment amount online, you mistakenly enter an extra zero and pay 10 times more than intended.
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You pay after credits are applied. For example, your account has a credit from rewards or returns that brought your balance down to zero, but you still make your monthly $500 payment.
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Automatic and manual payments overlap – Autopay schedules a payment on the 1st of the month, but you also make a manual payment on the 5th, resulting in double payments.
Overpayments Don’t Directly Affect Your Credit Scores
The main factor your credit card use affects your credit scores is your credit utilization ratio – the percentage of your total available credit you’re using.
Overpaying your credit card won’t increase your utilization. For example, if you have a $1,000 limit and a $500 balance but pay $600, you’ll have a -$100 balance. However, your utilization would still be 0% on your credit reports, which is ideal.
So overpayments don’t help or hurt your credit utilization. The only penalty is having that money temporarily tied up with your issuer if you don’t request a refund.
What Happens When You Overpay Your Credit Card
When you pay more than you owe on your credit card, one of two things can happen:
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The overpayment rolls over as a credit – Your balance will show as negative. As you continue using the card, the credit will be applied to your purchases until it’s used up.
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You can request a refund – Federal law requires credit card companies to issue refunds for overpayments within 7 business days if requested. You’ll need to contact your issuer.
If you don’t request a refund, the issuer will send you the remaining credit if it’s not used up within 180 days.
The Downsides of Overpaying
While overpayments themselves are harmless, refund delays or account freezes could occur in certain situations:
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Refund delays – It may take up to a week to receive a refund. You lose access to that money in the meantime.
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Account freezes – A very large overpayment could trigger a fraud alert and prompt your issuer to freeze your account until you verify the payment.
To avoid these issues, it’s smart to take precautions to prevent overpaying in the first place.
How to Avoid Overpaying Your Credit Card
Here are some tips to help prevent accidental credit card overpayments:
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Set up autopay – Having your full statement balance automatically paid each month eliminates the need to manually pay bills. Just don’t schedule any extra payments.
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Review statements – Carefully check statements to verify your balance and recent payments before making manual payments.
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Note payment activity – Some issuer apps and sites allow you to see if recent payments have posted to avoid duplicate payments.
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Get account alerts – Alerts can notify you when payments are made or when your balance is unusually low, signaling an overpayment.
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Pay right before due dates – When paying manually, submit payments 1-2 days before your due date to avoid overlaps with autopay.
The Bottom Line
While overpaying your credit card won’t directly hurt your credit, it can tie up money you’d rather have access to. Setting up autopay, double checking balances, and enabling account alerts can all help you avoid accidental overpayments. But if you do overpay, you can request a refund or let the credit ride until it’s used up through your spending.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does overpaying my credit card help my credit score?
No, overpaying your credit card doesn’t help your credit score. It also doesn’t hurt it. The only credit score impact comes from on-time payments and credit utilization. Overpayments don’t improve your utilization ratio beyond 0%.
What happens if I pay more than my credit limit?
Paying more than your credit limit could trigger an over limit fee or potentially get your account closed. It’s best to specifically request a higher credit limit if you need to make larger payments. Over limit fees are now banned under the CARD Act.
Can I get a refund if I overpay my credit card?
Yes, you can request a refund if you overpay your credit card. By law, the issuer must issue a refund within 7 business days if requested. You can generally make the request online or by contacting customer service.
Does a negative balance on my credit card help my credit?
No, a negative balance doesn’t help or hurt your credit. Your credit scores look at your payment history and amounts owed. A negative balance means you’ve paid more than owed, not that you’ve improved your credit utilization ratio.
What should I do if I frequently overpay my credit card?
If you find yourself frequently overpaying your credit card, it’s a sign you may need to review your payment process. Consider setting up autopay to pay your statement balance monthly. Also verify your balance right before making manual payments.
Overpaying your credit card from time to time generally won’t cause any issues beyond tying up some money temporarily. But taking precautions can help you avoid overpayments altogether and make sure your payments are going through as expected each month.
Check for recent payments
Some credit card issuers make it easy to see if youve recently made a payment. If you have a card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees), tracking your payments should be simple. While Chase typically doesnt update your current balance right away, it displays the most recently schedule payment in the card details when you check the app. You can also tap “View payment activity” under the card details to see all your recent payments and whether they have gone through.
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Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
With a credit card like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, all you need to do is check the issuers app. Capital One shows your scheduled payments on top of the recent transactions section and often updates your available credit almost immediately after you make a payment.
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Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Selects editorial staff.
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If your issuer doesnt make this information as easy to find, you can always go and check your transactions as your payment will also be displayed here.
“Set it and forget it” by setting up autopay may be the best way to avoid overpaying. With this feature, payments will be made for you automatically, and you can choose to pay off the whole balance every month. Just dont forget you have it in place or you risk ending up with a negative balance by scheduling an extra payment manually.
For example, if you have the Citi Simplicity® Card, you can set up autopay by linking your bank account through the Citi website or mobile app. You can customize the payment type (i.e. last statement balance or minimum payment due), how often youd like to pay per billing cycle and what date(s) youd like your payments to be made. Plus, the card doesnt charge any late fees, so you wont be charged for it if you miss a payment.
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Good to Excellent670–850Regular APR
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Information about the Citi Simplicity® Card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.
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Can you overpay your credit card to increase your credit limit?
No, overpaying your credit card will not increase your credit limit. One of the most common ways to do that is by requesting a credit line increase through your credit card provider.