As a credit user, your payment history is one of the most important factors for the calculation of your credit score. That’s why it’s essential to pay your credit accounts on time, including your credit card bills. Late credit card bills can not only lower your credit score, but stay on your credit report for years.
Considering late payments can negatively affect credit, would making multiple small credit card payments during one billing cycle will boost your credit score faster?
Key Points
- Paying your credit card bill multiple times per month may not have a direct effect on your credit score, but there are indirect effects that may help give your score a boost.
- You may consider paying multiple times each billing cycle to help keep your credit utilization low, which can be a good thing for your credit score.
- The key is to ensure that the full balance on your credit card is paid every month by the due date to avoid interest charges and to keep your credit utilization ratio low.
Will Multiple Credit Card Payments In The Same Billing Cycle Improve Your Credit Score?
Technically speaking, making multiple credit card payments during one monthly billing cycle doesn’t have a direct impact on your credit score. That’s because your credit card payments are typically recorded to the credit bureaus once a month. So, while you may make multiple payments, you’ll only see one monthly payment on your history when looking at your credit report.
Learn more: When Should You Pay Your Credit Card Bill To Increase Your Credit Score?
Are There Any Benefits to Making Multiple Credit Card Payments in One Month?
While the number of credit card payments isn’t recorded on your credit history, making multiple small credit card payments a month can indirectly help your credit in other ways.
Lowers Your Debt Levels
The more debt you’re carrying each month, the worse it is for your credit. This is particularly true with revolving debts like credit cards. So, it’s better to make several smaller payments and cover your full bill than to pay the minimum or make a partial payment.
Lowers Your Credit Utilization Ratio
Your credit utilization ratio is another important factor for your credit. To see a truly positive effect, most financial experts recommend that you use no more than 10% to 30% of your available credit limit every month.
Learn more: What Should My Credit Utilization Ratio Be?
Avoids Late Payments Or Late Fees
By making numerous credit card payments each billing cycle, you’ll be lowering your chances of getting penalized for a late payment. You’ll not only avoid the negative impact it has on your credit score, but you’ll also avoid the fees associated with late payments.
Learn more: What Happens If You Missed A Credit Card Payment?
Less Interest Charged
Credit cards often come with relatively high interest rates of around 19.99% to 24.99% APR. However, interest only applies to your outstanding balances. So, if you make more than one credit card payment a month, you’ll decrease the amount you owe, which in turn will reduce the amount of interest charged.
Aligns Your Payments And Paycheques
If you have a job that pays you on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, you can adjust your credit card payments so that they match up with your paycheques. For example, making 2 or 4 credit card payments a month can decrease your debt level further and lead to the benefits above. Moreover, by synchronizing your credit card payments with your paycheques, you’ll have less temptation to spend your cheque on other things.
Regain Your Credit Limit Faster
Additionally, the more credit card payments you make, the more available credit you’ll have access to. This way, you’ll have extra wiggle room for the expenses you normally charge to your card.
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READ ARTICLEShould You Make Multiple Monthly Credit Card Payments?
Consider the following before making more than one payment towards your credit card every month:
| When To Make Multiple Monthly Credit Card Payments | -You tend to carry a balance every month -You’re charged a lot of interest due to high balances every month -You tend to forget to make credit card payments on time -You want to scale down your credit utilization -You want to align your paycheques with your credit card payments |
| When Not To Make Multiple Monthly Credit Card Payments | -You regularly pay your balance in full every month -Your credit utilization is always low -You’re very good at managing your finances and paying your bills |
Will Overpaying My Credit Card Help My Credit Score?
Since late, missed and partial credit card payments can have a negative impact on your credit, you may also be wondering if overpaying your monthly credit card bill would positively impact it. You can overpay your credit card in a number of ways, including:
- An overlapping of your manual or automatic payments
- A refund that you received from a purchase
- Rewards or statement credits you earn, like bonuses or cashback dollars
- Fraudulent charges being reversed following fraud or identity theft
- Creditor negotiations that result in waived or reduced fees
When one of these incidents occurs, a “negative” balance may appear on your credit card account. Don’t worry, this won’t affect your credit negatively or positively, as it’s your creditor that owes you money. If you want, you can resolve the issue by:
- Waiting – Depending on the size of your negative balance, any purchases you make before your next billing cycle should quickly raise your balance to zero.
- Ask For a Credit Balance Refund – For the sake of clarity and maintaining a zero balance, some users will request a refund from their bank or credit card issuer.
Learn more: What Does It Mean To Have A Negative Credit Card Balance?
When Do Credit Card Companies Report To The Credit Bureau?
Credit card companies generally report your account activity to the credit bureaus at the end of every billing cycle. Credit bureaus typically update their credit reports every 30 days or so. That said, the exact timing can vary by credit card provider and may not always align with both credit bureaus.
Is There Such A Thing As Paying My Credit Card Too Many Times?
There is no negative effect on your credit score if you pay your credit card multiple times per month. The only thing you should be wary of is the potential for confusion when it comes to keeping track of multiple payments, as this may be confusing and lead to mistakes if you don’t manage your payments properly.
Final Thoughts
Making multiple credit card payments won’t directly affect your credit. That said, there are perks to doing so, such as keeping your credit utilization ratio low and ensuring that you don’t carry a balance. The key is to pay your balance in full every month, whether you do that in one payment or several.
