Overpaying a credit card balance is an example of a credit mistake that won't have a negative impact on your score. You have two options available to you to get rid of the overpayment:
- Ask for a refund. You have the option of requesting either a check or an electronic deposit into your bank account.
- Keep making purchases with the credit card until the available balance on your credit card account has been depleted.
If you do nothing about the overage, banking laws mandate that the company that issued your credit card must make an effort to provide you with a refund after six months has passed. If you discover an overpayment, it is recommended that you get in touch with the company that issued your credit card, especially if the excess was substantial.
Does Having a Deficit in Your Account Affect Your Credit Score?
Your credit score will not suffer as a result of having a negative balance on a credit card. Your score will not be affected in any way by having a negative balance. Despite this, it's recommended to steer clear of them if possible. Because overpayments on credit cards have been known to be used in money laundering, a substantial negative balance on a credit card may indicate that fraud may have occurred; thus, the credit card issuer may close your account if fraud is suspected. Using the credit card as you usually would and letting the overpayment cover any future purchases is the easiest method to deal with an overpayment that has been made on the card.
How to Avoid Making an Overpayment on Your Credit Card
It is simple to make a mistake and overpay on a credit card. Even with the greatest of intentions, one could fail. You could want to do this if, for instance, you have set up your account to automatically make the minimum payment and then pay the whole sum manually. Having a plan is still something that might be beneficial. You should do all your power to avoid committing mistakes that require adding zeroes. What you can do is as follows:
Create Notifications for Your Account
Using account alerts, you can monitor your credit card balances, be reminded of when payments are due, and monitor how much of your credit card limit you have used. They do not charge anything to get started.
Be Sure to Double-Check Your Statement
You know that you should review your account statements to look for charges you do not recognize; nevertheless, it also makes sense to review them to look for payments or refunds. It is important to look into anything that you did not anticipate finding.
Establish Recurring Debits and Credits
Automatic payments guarantee you won't be charged a late fee; however, if you have a significantly higher than-usual balance and not enough money in your checking account to cover the full payment, you run the risk of overdrawing your account. Automatic payments can help you avoid late fees. Before you go ahead and set up the whole payment to be made automatically, you should think about this first.
Does Having a Balance That's Been Paid Off Affect Your Credit Score?
It is preferable to have a credit card bill paid in full than to have a positive balance. When reporting your card activity to credit agencies, credit card firms will record a negative amount as a "zero balance," even if the balance is negative.
Your credit usage ratio will decrease when you have no debt, which will positively affect your credit score. Although it is better for your credit than holding debt, the impact of making an overpayment is the same as making a payment for the proper amount to show that you owe zero dollars. This means that it won't boost your credit score. To put it another way, this is not the kind of situation in which you would think about whether or not to pay a credit card with another credit card.
Conclusion
It may be frustrating if you overpay your credit card payment by mistake, but it won't impact your credit score. You won't be out of pocket since the company that issued your credit card is obligated to reimburse you for any overpayments. This may be done by writing a check or making a deposit into your bank account, or it can be done by utilizing the overpayment to cover any additional expenses that have been incurred.
