Negative Balance (2024)

FAQs

What does it mean if my statement balance is negative? ›

It appears as a negative account balance. This means that your credit card company owes you money instead of the other way around. Typically, this happens when you've overpaid your outstanding balance or if you've had a credit returned to your account.

A negative balance occurs when you make payments that exceed the funds in your account. Overdraft protection can help cover the difference, but it comes with fees. A negative bank balance can lead to overdraft fees, non-sufficient funds fees, account closure, and credit impact.

Your Available Balance will be negative when you make a debit card purchase or external withdrawal that exceeds your Available Balance, but not your Total Account Balance as your Reserves hold sufficient funds.

Will a negative credit card balance affect your credit score? No, a negative balance does not affect a credit score. Most credit models consider negative balances equivalent to a $0 balance, which means negative balances don't hurt credit scores.

Having a negative balance is not actually negative. It means you have an extra balance that might have happened because of multiple reasons like an overpayment, cash back etc.

How long do banks give you to pay overdraft fees before closing your account? Usually 30 days. Banks don't like you to overdraft your account, that's why they charge high fees.

A deficit, then, is a negative balance (or an excess of debits over credits) on account of certain transactions (the items above the line), which will cause trouble if it becomes large and persistent; to prevent this, some adjustment of the balance of payments is called for—and usually some adjustment in the domestic ...

If you choose to opt in to debit card and ATM overdraft, you are usually allowed to make ATM withdrawals and debit card purchases even if you do not have enough funds at the time of the transaction. However, you will generally incur fees on transactions that settle against a negative balance later.

Why do I have a negative balance but no available credit? ›

A negative credit card balance means your card issuer owes you money; it doesn't affect your credit score. You could have a negative balance if you've overpaid your bill, received a refund, or redeemed credit card rewards as a statement credit.

A negative balance indicates that your bill was overpaid and that you may be eligible for a refund.

A negative balance will usually sit in an account for at least 60 to 90 days before the bank may decide to refund the money via check or cash deposit into a linked account. Because the card issuer owes the cardholder, there won't be a monthly payment required or danger of accruing interest.

However, according to the new rules, banks cannot demand repayment for these negative balances.

In some cases, you may be able to make purchases even if you have a negative balance. Some banks even offer debit card overdraft coverage to help eligible transactions go through at the bank's discretion. However, this depends on your bank's policies and the specific type of account you have.

You should always strive to pay off your statement balance in full each month by the due date to avoid costly interest charges. It isn't necessary to pay off the current balance before the end of a billing cycle, but doing so can help maintain a low credit utilization and boost your credit score.

If total revenue minus total operating expenses is a negative number, this is considered an operating loss.

Your overpayment may trigger a fraud alert

But it is also a potential sign of refund fraud or even money laundering. Overpaying by a large amount may cause your issuer to freeze your account while investigating the issue or even close your account altogether, which could impact your credit score.