Discover late payment forgiveness is just another way of saying Discover will not charge you for the first late payment you make on your card. All customers get to avoid one late fee, which can be up to a maximum of $41 if you had another late fee within the previous 6 months. In addition, Discover does not charge penalty APRs on its credit cards. A penalty APR is a rate higher than the card’s normal APR that is charged in response to late payments. A company can only charge a penalty APR on new purchases at first, but can apply it to existing balances after you’re 60 days delinquent. Luckily, Discover won’t increase your APR – but they will report missed payments to the credit bureaus, which will hurt your credit score.
Discover isn’t obligated to forgive any late fees beyond the initial one. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try to get a second fee waived, especially if it’s been years since your first. You can call Discover customer service at 1 (800) 347-2683 and politely ask a representative about waiving the fee. Be sure to emphasize the amount of time you’ve been a Discover customer and your history of timely payments, if applicable.
This answer was last updated on 07/26/24 and it was first published on 04/15/21. For the most current information about a financial product, you should always check and confirm accuracy with the offering financial institution. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by any company.
