Credit Card Glossary: Terms and Definitions

Over-limit fee

An over-limit fee is a fee charged when your balance goes over your credit limit (also known as over the limit fee). When cardholders attempt to make purchases that will put them over limit, card issuers used to routinely decline the transactions. In recent years, many card issuers changed their policies and automatically enrolled consumers in programs that allowed the transaction, but then added hefty fees. The Credit CARD Act of 2009 ended the practice of automatically enrolling consumers into over-limit fees, and requires that credit card issuers give account holders the option to opt-in to over-limit fees. Without the consumer’s consent, they cannot charge over-limit fees. The act also forbids issuers from charging a fee higher than the amount a consumer is over the limit.