Going over a credit card limit can have some unfortunate consequences. It can involve large penalties or extra fines and fees, a transaction could instead be denied, and it may temporarily affect credit score. Most people worry a lot about this last consequence, but it should be stated that accidentally going over a credit card limit once is not likely to have a long term effect on credit rating.

Credit card companies have numerous options they can exercise when a person tries to make an over the limit purchase. Usually if the amount is very small, a matter of a few dollars, they won’t deny the purchase. This is especially true if the limit had not been reached prior to the purchase. A large purchase going over a credit card limit by a greater amount can be handled different.

If a customer has excellent credit, the card company might increase the limit. It is better to call the company and ask for an increase instead of waiting for their response. Alternately, the card company can simply refuse the transaction.

Another tactic is to allow the purchase but to charge extremely high fines. These can be in the nature of $30-35 US Dollars (USD) and should be defined in each credit offer. The amount owed on over limit expenses is usually due immediately and customers may be charged a late fee for going over a credit card limits and not paying the overage amount right away. All in all, people may pay greater than $50 USD in penalties and fees if they exceed their limit.

Sometimes credit card companies treat going over a credit card limit as an excuse to raise interest rates. Alternately, they may charge additional interest on any over limit amounts. It’s wise to avoid this practice because of the potential fees involved.

As for credit rating, ratings tend to evaluate how much credit is available to a person. When someone has $1000 USD of available credit and uses $900 USD, there is only 10% available credit. Credit rating reflects negatively when people use up most of their available credit, and obviously going over a credit card limit will show people do not have any available credit.

When a person can immediately rectify this situation, this report changes quickly. Credit rating would only reflect this in the month it occurred. Constantly going over a credit card limit will mean this always shows up on credit ratings. Consumer counselors recommend using no more than 30% of available credit to maintain good credit rating, and this will help keep purchases from exceeding credit limits.