Credit card companies offer assistance to customers impacted by the government shutdown

GREENSBORO, N.C. —  The shutdown has prompted credit card companies to send messages to consumers offering assistance if you’re impacted due to the Federal government shutdown.

“They would much prefer that you let them in and tell them, rather than just say stop paying your bills unexpectedly, because that’s when you’re going to see a lot of really difficult consequences,” said Sara Rathner, Credit Card Expert for Nerdwallet.

Rathner says Hardship Programs are common and can be used when you have a family emergency, unexpected large medical bills, a divorce, or a job loss.

“As a consumer, as a credit card holder, what you want to do is a little bit of your homework, look through your typical spending and establish a changed budget for yourself and your household, given your circumstances right now, and you can take that to your credit card company and say, hey, here are the, here are the financial obligations I have, and here’s what I could afford to spend every month on those obligations. What can we do?” said Rathner.

For example, a CITI representative says:

 For customers impacted by the federal shutdown who request our assistance, Citi will waive various consumer and small business banking fees….

   We will also defer minimum payments and suppress late fees for bank customers and cardholders, including those with personal installment loans…

   Late payments due to accepting this assistance will not be reported to credit bureaus…

“You do want to be mindful that you might have to, depending on what you agree to, you might have to go through credit counseling. The credit card issuer might freeze your account or even cancel your credit card as part of the agreement. You do not have to agree to what they offer, but you can at least start that negotiation,” said Rathner.

NerdWallet warns: make sure you can afford the payments on this plan, because if you miss a payment, they might cancel the Hardship Program.

 But calling your card company and hearing what’s available is better than missing a payment with no communication.