So you are late on paying some of your bills. It’s no big deal because you eventually send in the payments.

Well, it may be a bigger deal than you realize. We’re hearing from consumers who report that a late payment on just one account resulted in higher interest rates and fees on all their accounts. How can that happen? Well, it’s simple. Your creditors keep track of your bill paying habits, so that one late payment may affect a lot more than just that account. In fact, it’s quite likely that the interest rates on unrelated accounts will go up.

More and more companies are checking credit reports on a regular basis. If they find you are late with even one payment, the result is higher interest. One late payment may be an indication that you are about to be delinquent in paying another account.

Conversely, if you are diligent in paying your bills and the credit issuer likes what it sees, you may be offered a higher credit limit.