Avoiding late payment fees on your credit card

Your credit card statement will include a payment due date. This date is one to remember if you’re keen to avoid late fees.^disclaimer

If you don’t pay at least the ‘Minimum Monthly Payment’ (plus amounts due immediately like overlimit or overdue amounts) shown on your statement by the Due Date, then you may be charged a late payment fee^disclaimer. This fee is added to your purchases balance, which means you could also end up paying interest on the fee (as part of that balance). 

Not an ideal scenario, right? So, read on to discover how you could avoid being charged a late payment fee on your credit card.

Know your payment Due Date

Your ANZ consumer credit card statement will include a payment Due Date. 

Generally, the payment Due Date falls around the same time each month. Find out what your next due date is – either by looking at past statements (if you have them) for an indication, or by contacting ANZ. You can also consider setting up alerts or a direct debit to help ensure you don’t miss your payment Due Date^disclaimer.

A reminder about interest-free periods on purchases

If your account has interest-free periods on purchases, you can avoid paying interest on the purchases balance by always paying the full Closing Balance (or if applicable, your ‘Adjusted Closing Balance’) shown on each statement of account by the applicable due date^disclaimer. Your Adjusted Closing Balance is calculated as your closing balance less the sum of any relevant Promotional Plan balances that relate to an Instalment Plan, a Buy Now Pay Later plan, or a Promotional Balance Transfer Plan. If you miss this payment, you will generally be charged interest on your purchases balance from the day after the due date shown on that statement. 

Learn more about how interest is calculated on personal Credit Card Accounts.

Don’t fall into the “I’ve already paid” trap

You might think that if you’ve made a payment to your credit card during the statement period, then you don’t need to make any further payment before the payment Due Date shown on your statement. However this may not always be the case. 

If your account currently has the benefit of interest-free days on purchases, and if the payment you make each month is sufficient to pay off the Closing Balance (or if applicable, your ‘Adjusted Closing Balance’) in full, then you may be right^disclaimer.

But if you make a payment that is not sufficient to pay off the Closing Balance  (or if applicable, your ‘Adjusted Closing Balance’) in full then, you will still need to make a further payment by the Due Date to avoid interest and a late payment fee^disclaimer. Always check your latest statement to see what’s owing and by when.

Late fees can attract interest, too

Remember that late payment fees are added to your purchases balance and can attract interest. So, if you don’t pay at least the Minimum Monthly Payment shown on your statement by this date, as well as any overlimit or overdue amounts, then not only could you be charged a Late Payment Fee but that fee could begin to attract interest from the day after the Due Date on your statement (assuming you have previously been paying the full Closing Balance and you have a zero balance at the beginning of your statement cycle)^disclaimer.

If you’ve missed a repayment, then you could miss out on the benefit of an interest-free period (if one applies to your Credit Card Account) too.

Need help?

If you continually miss credit card repayments, your credit rating could be affected. If you’re worried about your credit card debt and your ability to make repayments, contact your credit card provider. They may be able to assist.

Information on current ANZ account fees is available on request at any ANZ branch, at anz.com or by calling ANZ Cards on 13 13 14.