At Experian, one of our priorities is consumer credit and finance education. This post may contain links and references to one or more of our partners, but we provide an objective view to help you make the best decisions. For more information, see our Editorial Policy.
In this article:
Exceeding a credit card's borrowing limit can hurt your credit scores and lead to fees. When you charge more than your card's credit limit, you push its credit utilization rate, or the percentage of the credit limit represented by your balance, past 100%. Credit utilization is one of the most important credit scoring factors, and a utilization rate above 100% can have a negative effect on scores.
You can avoid going over your credit limit, and jeopardizing your credit score, by opting out of over-limit protection. However, opting out makes it more likely your card issuer will decline charges that would bring your balance over the limit. Here's how it all works.
Does Going Over Your Credit Limit Affect Your Credit Score?
Going over your credit limit will likely hurt your credit score. The amount of available credit you're using, or your credit utilization, contributes heavily to one of the top factors that determine your credit scores: amounts owed, which accounts for 30% of your FICO® Score☉ Θ.
In general, the lower your credit utilization, the better. Individuals with the highest credit scores typically maintain utilization rates below 10%. When your credit utilization rate exceeds 30%, it can start to have a particularly negative impact on your credit scores.
To find your credit utilization, divide the card's balance by its credit limit and multiply by 100 to get a percentage. Your score will be affected not only by your utilization on each credit card separately, but by your total utilization across all credit card accounts.
Example: If your credit limit is $2,000 and your outstanding balance is $1,000, your credit utilization on that card would be 50%.
Learn more: How Important Is Credit Card Utilization to Your Credit Score?
What Happens if You Go Over Your Credit Limit?
If you charge more than your credit limit allows, you could experience one or more of the following consequences.
Your Transaction May Be Declined
In many cases, your purchase will be declined if it would put you over your credit limit. There are a few exceptions: If you've otherwise never spent beyond your credit limit and have a positive payment history, the issuer could approve the transaction and allow you to exceed the limit. You won't pay a fee in this case. If you opted in to over-limit protection, the charge will go through, but you'll likely pay an over-limit fee (more on that next).
You May Be Charged an Over-Limit Fee
By default, credit cards do not charge you fees if you exceed your credit limit. While this type of fee used to be common, the Credit CARD Act of 2009 changed that.
Now, the credit card issuer can let you charge beyond the borrowing limit, but it can't make you pay a fee for doing so. If you choose to opt in to over-limit protection, however, you'll be able to charge beyond your credit limit, and you'll be subject to fees. There's a cap on the amount of over-limit fees the issuer can charge you.
Your Credit Score Could Drop
It's likely that, once your credit utilization reaches or exceeds 100%, you'll see damage to your credit scores. The effect, however, often depends on how close to the limit you were before the transaction that tipped you over, as well as the rest of your credit file.
- If your utilization was at or below 10% before you maxed out the card, your score may drop significantly, since you'll have gone from a "safe" utilization rate to one considered excessive by lenders and credit scoring systems. If you have only one credit card, the effect of high utilization on that one account could also be particularly stark, since you don't have other accounts with lower utilization to balance out the impact.
- If your utilization rate was already close to 100% before the transaction, on the other hand, your credit scores likely already have suffered some effects of high utilization, and topping 100% may not have an exaggerated effect.
Credit utilization can decrease at any time if you make the effort to pay down your balances. That means that even if your score gets damaged by a short period of high utilization, you can rewrite the story and pay off debt to bring your utilization down, giving your scores a chance to rebound.
How to Avoid Going Over Your Credit Limit
While maxing out your card has a number of negative consequences, there are several ways to avoid it altogether. Try these strategies:
- Opt out of over-limit protection. The easiest way to prevent going over a credit card's borrowing limit is to refuse over-limit protection when you fill out a credit card application or respond to notifications about the overdraft option. If you've already opted in to over-limit protection, you can change your account options via your issuer's website or mobile app or by calling the customer service number that appears on your card. Doing so won't exempt you from fees connected with any overdrafts you've already made, however.
- Enable balance alerts. You can set up credit card alerts in the issuer's mobile app or online portal that tell you when your balance has reached a certain amount. That can let you know you're close to your credit limit, giving you the chance to pause purchases and pay down the balance.
- Keep a card with over-limit protection only for emergencies. There may be a circumstance in which you need to use a credit card for an emergency purchase, and it's crucial for the purchase to be able to go through. (Ideally, you'll have a cash emergency fund at the ready to avoid these situations.) You can opt in to over-limit protection on one card that you don't use often so that it's available if you need it, but isn't your primary credit card. Plan to make occasional small purchases and pay them off right away to keep the card active. Otherwise, the issuer may close the card or lower its credit limit.
What to Do if You Go Over Your Credit Limit
Despite your best efforts, exceeding a card's credit limit can happen. Here's what to do next:
- Make a payment as soon as possible. Don't wait for your next bill to arrive to bring the balance on the card below its borrowing limit. Make a payment right away in your card's online account or mobile app. This will help you avoid incurring additional overdraft penalties.
- Request a higher credit limit. If your credit score is good and you otherwise have a positive history of credit management with the issuer, request a credit limit increase on the card. If approved, that will ease your immediate problem and avoid additional overdraft fees, but you'll likely still have a high balance on the card. As a result, plan to take the steps below to minimize harm to your credit scores.
- Stop using the card for new transactions. Pause using the card for one-off purchases. If you pay any recurring expenses with the card, use a different connected bank account or credit card to pay your bills so you don't fall behind.
- Make extra payments to the maxed-out card. Make additional credit card payments to bring the balance down. Aim to continue until the balance on this card is below about 30% of the borrowing limit. Keep up with payments on other accounts and avoid additional elevated balances as you focus on this one.
- Consolidate your debt. If your credit scores are in good shape, consider a debt consolidation loan or a balance transfer to a new credit card. These can help reduce the interest you pay on high credit card balances, which can prolong the process of paying them down. If you consolidate debt with a balance transfer credit card, take care to avoid running up your balance on the new card, and plan to pay down debt before the introductory interest rate ends.
- Get advice from a credit counselor. If you have multiple cards with balances at or near their spending limits, consider seeking the advice of a certified nonprofit credit counselor. They can help you devise a plan for getting your debt under control and bolstering your credit score.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Go Over My Credit Limit?
It is possible to go over your credit limit, especially if you've opted in to over-limit protection with your credit card issuer. The issuer may also let you go over the limit on a case-by-case basis even if you haven't opted in, but in this circumstance, you won't be required to pay over-limit fees.
How Much of My Credit Limit Should I Use?
Experts recommend using no more than 30% of your credit limit at all times. Those with the highest credit scores, however, use less than 10% of their credit limit on each card and across all cards.
How Do I Request a Higher Credit Limit?
You can request a higher credit limit by asking your credit card issuer for an increase. Contact the issuer within the card's mobile app or online portal, or via the customer service phone number. You'll likely have to provide your current income and housing expenses.
The Bottom Line
Maxing out a credit card can bring costly fees and damage credit scores. You can prevent it from happening by skipping over-limit protection and aiming to keep balances below 30% of your borrowing limits. Scores often respond quickly as you pay down high card balances, and you can track this by checking your FICO® Score for free with Experian.