 TITLE: What Is a Credit Card Hardship Program? CONTENT: Do Credit Card Hardship Programs Affect Your Credit?\n----------------------------------------------------\nCommonly, a credit card issuer will provide a hardship accommodation by reducing the card's required minimum payment to as low as $0, which will not affect credit scores. Your creditworthiness can be affected, however, if the issuer indicates that a special accommodation has been made when it reports the account to the credit bureaus.\nAsk your card issuer how they will report your account during the hardship program. Once you're approved, occasionally check your credit report to make sure everything is as promised. If you find discrepancies, contact the credit card company and the credit bureaus. Through April 20, 2022, you can get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major consumer credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) once a week at AnnualCreditReport.com.\nA credit card hardship program could hurt your credit score if the card issuer lowers your credit limit or closes your account. Lowering your credit limit might increase your credit utilization ratio, which is an important factor in your FICO® Score☉ . Credit utilization measures the percentage of your available credit you use, and high credit card balances can drive down your scores—especially if they are above 30% of your credit limit. If the $3,000 credit limit on a card with a $1,000 balance drops to $2,000, your utilization rate goes from 30% to 50%.\nClosing your credit card account can also eventually reduce the length of your history, which can hurt your credit score. The age of your credit accounts for 15% of your FICO® Score.\nA credit card hardship program may wind up helping you improve your credit score by making it easier to pay down debt and freeing up cash for timely payments on your mortgage, student loan and other debts. END