COVID-19 Credit Card Management Tips

COVID-19 Credit Card Management Tips

Written by Nathan Woolard

If you or your family are dealing with loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be struggling to make even the minimum payment due on your credit cards.  To make matters worse, you may also find yourself needing to use your credit cards to pay for daily essentials that normally would have been covered by your paycheck.  However, if you require extra aid, some credit card issuers are being more lenient with customers during this time.  Here are some examples of the type of relief you may be able to receive:

• Deferred payments/waived fees.  Some issuers are offering a deferral of minimum payments for a month or two, while others may waive late fees if you aren’t able to pay by your due date.  If your card has an annual fee, ask your issuer if they would be willing to waive that fee for one year or refund the fee if you have already paid it.
• Refunds on unusable purchases.  Have you purchased tickets to an event that was then canceled due to the pandemic and haven’t been able to obtain a refund from the venue?  Ask your card issuer for a chargeback, in which the charge is refunded while your issuer disputes the charge with the merchant.
• New due date.  Do you need to spread out your bills or move a due date so it falls after you get paid?  Most issuers will let you change your billing due date.  It won’t change how much you owe, but it might allow you to pay it at a more convenient time.
• Save on interest.  Consider applying for a new 0% intro APR credit card.  These cards tend to offer 0% interest on new purchases and balance transfers for a year or more.  You’ll still need to pay on your balance, but you’ll at least have a break before interest begins to accrue.

To find out which of these options might be available to you, you’ll need to take the initiative and reach out to your credit card issuers.  Help may be available, but you won’t get it unless you ask!