Credit card forbearance and deferred payments: what they are and how to request them.
When a financial hardship makes it difficult or impossible to keep up with credit card payments, two short-term relief tools are worth knowing about: forbearance and deferment. Both come from your issuer directly, both are temporary, and both require that you actually contact the issuer and request them — they are not automatic. Understanding what each one involves, and how they differ, helps you ask for the right thing and know what you are agreeing to before you say yes.
This page covers credit card forbearance and deferment specifically. For the broader range of hardship accommodations issuers offer — including rate reductions, fee waivers, and structured repayment plans — see the detailed overview of credit card hardship programs.
Forbearance and deferment: how they differ
The two terms are often used interchangeably by some issuers, which creates confusion. In practice they describe slightly different arrangements, and understanding the distinction matters when you are evaluating what you are being offered.
Credit card forbearance is a temporary reduction or suspension of your required monthly payment for a defined period — typically one to six months. During forbearance, interest continues to accrue on your balance unless the issuer has specifically agreed to waive or reduce it as part of the arrangement. At the end of the forbearance period, you resume payments, and the balance — which has likely grown due to accrued interest — is repaid according to whatever terms are then agreed upon. Forbearance does not forgive anything. It pauses the payment obligation temporarily while you stabilize.
Credit card deferment is a specific type of forbearance in which one or more payments are put entirely on hold — skipped — rather than reduced. The skipped payment amount is typically added back to the balance or addressed through a separate arrangement after the deferral period ends. Some issuers use "deferment" to describe any pause in payments; others use it to describe the specific mechanism of moving a payment obligation forward in time. If your issuer uses this term, ask exactly what happens to the skipped payment amount and when it becomes due.
The practical difference for most borrowers: forbearance may involve partial payments at a reduced level, while deferment typically means no payment required for the covered period. Both result in a balance that is the same or larger at the end than it was at the beginning, since interest does not stop accruing in most cases.
Entering into a forbearance plan is yet another way to get relief from your credit card debts. It will only provide short term assistance though. Many credit card companies, including Bank of America, Citibank, and Discover Card, are providing one or more types of forbearance programs to consumers who are struggling with paying their credit card bills or debts.
What issuers / credit card companies actually offer under forbearance programs
Forbearance terms vary significantly by issuer and are determined case by case based on your account history, your stated hardship, and the issuer's current policies. No website — including this one — can tell you exactly what your issuer will offer today, since these programs are not publicly advertised and their terms change.
What can be said consistently across major issuers is that forbearance arrangements for credit card accounts typically involve one or more of the following: a temporary reduction in the minimum required payment, a full suspension of payments for one to three months (sometimes longer for severe hardships), a temporary reduction in the interest rate during the forbearance period, and a waiver of late fees for the covered months. The combination offered depends on the issuer and the borrower's situation.
Major credit card issuers — including American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Discover — all have internal processes for hardship accommodations including forbearance. Contact information and specific program details are covered on the individual issuer pages linked from the credit card company hardship programs page. Phone numbers are not listed here because they change — the number on the back of your card is always the most reliable.
What happens to interest during forbearance
This is the most important thing to understand before agreeing to any forbearance arrangement, and it is the thing issuers are least likely to volunteer clearly.
In most credit card forbearance arrangements, interest continues to accrue on your balance at either the standard rate or a temporarily reduced rate. A three-month forbearance on a $10,000 balance at 22 percent APR accrues approximately $550 in interest that you did not pay down during the forbearance period. That $550 is added to your balance. When payments resume, you are paying off a larger amount than you started with.
This is not a reason to avoid forbearance when it is genuinely needed — the alternative of missing payments without an arrangement carries credit penalties that forbearance avoids. But it is a reason to ask specifically, before agreeing: will interest continue to accrue during the forbearance period? At what rate? What will my approximate balance be when the forbearance ends?
If the issuer offers to waive or reduce interest during the forbearance period, get that in writing as part of the agreement.
How forbearance affects your credit
Credit card forbearance, when properly arranged before payments are missed, generally does not result in new delinquency marks on your credit report. Most issuers report accounts as current during an approved forbearance period, which means your credit standing is preserved during the arrangement. This is a meaningful advantage over simply missing payments without any arrangement.
Some issuers may note on your credit report that the account is enrolled in a hardship or forbearance program, but this notation typically has a minor impact compared to a missed payment or delinquency mark.
The credit protection only applies if the forbearance is approved before you miss a payment. If you have already missed one or more payments and then enter a forbearance arrangement, the prior missed payments remain on your report. The forbearance stops new negative marks from accumulating going forward, which is still valuable — but it does not retroactively fix what occurred before the arrangement was in place.
Ask your issuer specifically how they will report the account to the credit bureaus during the forbearance period before agreeing to the arrangement.
What happens when forbearance ends
At the end of the forbearance period, your issuer will contact you to discuss what comes next. The options typically include resuming the standard minimum payment (with the accrued interest now part of the balance), entering a longer-term hardship repayment plan if your situation has not fully stabilized, or in some cases transitioning to a debt management plan through a nonprofit credit counseling agency.
It is important to have a realistic plan for what happens at the end before you enter forbearance. A borrower who enters a three-month forbearance without any plan for what changes in month four may find themselves in the same position — or a worse one, since the balance has grown — when the forbearance expires.
If your financial situation has not meaningfully improved by the time forbearance ends and you cannot resume standard payments, contact your issuer before the forbearance expires rather than after. Issuers have more options to help a borrower who communicates proactively than one who simply stops paying again when the period ends.
For situations where forbearance has ended and the underlying financial difficulty continues, the next conversation may need to involve a nonprofit credit counselor or, in more severe cases, a discussion of whether settlement or bankruptcy is appropriate. See should I use debt settlement and how it hurts - helps. Free or low-cost guidance can be provided from nonprofit credit counseling agencies.
How to request forbearance
Call the number on the back of your card and ask specifically for the hardship department or financial assistance team — not general customer service. Explain your hardship clearly and specifically: what happened, when it happened, and what your current financial picture looks like. Ask what forbearance or deferment options are available, what happens to interest during the period, and how the account will be reported to the credit bureaus.
Once terms are offered, ask for them in writing before agreeing. The written confirmation should specify the duration of the forbearance, whether interest accrues and at what rate, the expected balance at the end of the period, and how the account will be reported. Do not make or skip a payment based on a verbal agreement alone.
More detail on the full conversation — what to say, what to ask, and what to watch for — is in the [step-by-step hardship enrollment guide.
Does forbearance work?
Research on credit card hardship programs broadly suggests that most borrowers who enter formal forbearance arrangements stay current on their payments after the forbearance period ends. The availability of structured short-term relief — rather than simply falling behind — is associated with better long-term outcomes for borrowers who use it appropriately. The key phrase is "use it appropriately": forbearance is designed for genuine, temporary hardship with a realistic path to resuming payments. Borrowers who enter forbearance without that realistic path tend to end up in the same difficulty when it concludes.
This page provides general educational information about credit card forbearance and deferment programs. Program terms, eligibility, and availability vary by issuer and change frequently. Contact your issuer directly to confirm current offerings. This page is not legal or financial advice.
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