I overpaid my credit card bill. Now what?

Last month, I overpaid my credit card bill. For the second time.

"I think your two braincells can't handle having a credit card," my sister said helpfully, when I burst into her room in a mild panic.

"Adulting is hard," a more sympathetic friend told me kindly.

But when you pay $400+ more for a credit card bill than you should have, no amount of sympathy can change the fact that you feel uneasy. It's almost a sense of injustice. After all, your bank kinda owes you money, and it's natural to want that money back.

So, what happens if you overpay your credit card balance? Can you get the extra money refunded? Here's what to do if you overpay your credit card for DBS, Standard Chartered, UOB, and more.

1. What to do if you overpay your credit card

So, you overpaid your credit card bill. What do you do now? Is it bad to overpay your credit card? Contrary to what you might think, overpaying a credit card isn't a terrible mistake, and calling your bank to beg for a refund is not your only option.

Option 1: Let the extra credit offset future spending

The easiest, lowest effort option is to do nothing. Generally, if you just leave your credit card balance as is, any extra money you paid this month will automatically roll over to next month and offset that bill. Trust me, I know-because that is exactly what happened the first time I overpaid my credit card bill and didn't even notice till the next month's bill was magically offset. Think of it as paying ahead of time for the future expenditures on your credit card. 

Do note that your card account balance will be reflected as a negative balance if you overpay your credit card and leave the excess credit. 

Option 2: Request a credit balance refund

If you need the cash, don't feel comfortable with your bank holding extra credit, or perhaps even want to cancel your credit card right now, you can request for the extra money back. This is called a credit balance refund. The process of making such a request differs from bank to bank. We'll go into how to request a credit balance refund for each bank in the next few sections.

2. Overpaid credit card: DBS credit balance refund

DBS makes it very easy to request a credit balance refund for an overpaid credit card bill. The DBS credit balance refund process is carried out entirely on their online chat service, DBS digibot. It's fairly quick, and you don't even need to chat with a live agent to get it done.

To request a credit balance refund for DBS, launch DBS digibot then select "Yes" to continue when it asks if you want help getting a refund of your excess credit.

If for some reason DBS digibot only asks a general "What can I help you with?" kind of question, simply type in "credit balance refund", and select "Proceed".

Log in to DBS. This requires authentication via iBanking, and is probably the most tedious part of the process. Everything is straightforward after that-DBS will show you the credit card(s) that you've overpaid, you select the one you want a refund for, and confirm whether you want a full or partial refund. Finally, choose the bank account you want to receive the refund in, and voila! 

Do note that refunds can only be transferred to Personal or Joint-Alternate DBS/POSB accounts. Additionally, only the main card holder can make the refund request.

3. Overpaid credit card: HSBC credit balance refund

According to HSBC's credit card T&Cs: "If you transfer more money than you owe into your account it'll be in credit. This credit amount won't earn any interest and will be used to pay for any transactions, fees, charges or interest until it is fully used."

While HSBC doesn't mention any tool to request for a credit balance refund, you can always try contacting them to make a request. To contact HSBC, you have a few options:

• Chat with HSBC via the HSBC Singapore app. Go to the "Support" tab, then select "Chat with us".
• Chat with HSBC via HSBC Online Banking. Log in to your HSBC account, then select the Chat button on the bottom right of the page.
• Call HSBC at +65 6-HSBC NOW (6-4722 669) for HSBC Personal Banking or +65 6227 8889 for HSBC Premier.

4. Overpaid credit card: Citibank credit balance refund

If you overpaid your Citibank credit card and want a refund of the credit balance, you can either chat online with Citibank (via text) or do it the old-fashioned way and give them a call.

To chat with Citibank via Live Chat, you must log in to your Citibank account first. Then, select "Live Chat" on your account summary page. You'll need to enter a One-Time-PIN (OTP) to proceed. Once you're authenticated, type in your enquiry, and an agent from Citibank's Digital Client Care Team will tend to you.

Citibank's credit card balance refund process via Live Chat shouldn't take you too long, nor take too many brain cells, according to this Redditer:

If you prefer to call Citibank, here are their 24-hour hotlines:

• CitiPhone Banking: +65 6224 5757
• CitiGold Priority Hotline: +65 6323 3200

5. Overpaid credit card: UOB credit balance refund

UOB is not the most helpful when it comes to credit card balance refund requests. They don't publish any advice or information online on what to do if you want to make such a request.

So if you want to request for a refund on your UOB credit card balance, it's safe to assume you have to treat it like any other bank enquiry and call/message them via the general channels.

To speak with UOB on the phone, call their hotline at 1800 222 2121 or (+65) 6222 2121.

If you prefer to chat with UOB online, use UOB Chat Assist, which can help with enquiries such as card activation, overseas card use, and credit card fee waivers.

6. Overpaid credit card: AMEX credit balance refund

Wondering what happened to that buggy AMEX credit balance refund tool that never worked? It seems AMEX didn't fix it, but just did away with it entirely.

Now, AMEX is very straightforward about what you should do to request a credit balance refund: Simply call the number on the back of your AMEX credit card. Their hotlines are open 24/7.

7. Overpaid credit card: OCBC credit balance refund

Unfortunately, OCBC is another bank that isn't super clear about the best way to go about making a credit balance refund request. The only time they mentioned it is on the OCBC Cards FAQ page, under "Handling of excess credit balance":

OCBC only says to "please contact us" to get a refund of your excess credit. With nothing more specific than that, we can only assume that we should make a general inquiry via the usual channels.

To contact OCBC, you can:

• Call OCBC on the phone: 

1. Personal Banking: 6363 3333 or +65 6363 3333 from overseas
2. Premier Banking: 1800 Premier (1800 773 6437) or +65 6530 5930 from overseas
3. Premier Private Client: 1800 424 8888 or +65 6424 8888 from overseas

• Chat online 24/7 via the OCBC Chatbot
• Email them via the OCBC Digital app or OCBC Online Banking.

Do note that emailing them is the slowest option-they'll take 14 working days to reply. Call or chat with them for a quicker refund. Once approved, your excess credit balance refund will reach you via a fund transfer to your OCBC current/savings account, or via a Cashier's Order.

8. Overpaid credit card: Standard Chartered credit balance refund

Requesting a Standard Chartered credit card balance refund is simple and easy. On the Standard Chartered app:

• Tap on your own profile > "Help & Services" > "View All".
• Under "Card Management", select "Credit Balance Refund".
• Choose the credit card you want a refund on.
• Choose the account into which you want to receive the refund.
• Enter the refund amount you want to receive. It need not be the full excess credit amount. You'll also need to select a refund reason, such as "excess payment made".
• Review the details and confirm your request!

Standard Chartered will contact you via email and SMS when they've completed your request. Until then, you can check on its status under "Help & Services" > "Status" tab.

Ran into a more complicated problem? You can always contact Standard Chartered at (+65) 6747 7000 for Personal Banking (8am to 8pm) or (+65) 6846 8000 for Priority Banking (24-hours). Alternatively, chat online by selecting their "Click to chat" button on the bottom right corner of their website.

9. Overpaid credit card: Maybank credit balance refund

Requesting a credit card balance refund from Maybank is kinda tricky. Maybank Malaysia said in 2019 that they will stop processing overpayment refunds on Maybank credit cards. Instead, the excess credit will offset future expenses made on the card.

Maybank Singapore has not made a similar statement, so it's unclear if the same applies. Regardless, Maybank Singapore certainly isn't very forthcoming with how to go about requesting a credit balance refund, so your best is to give it a shot and contact Maybank to ask.

Their 24h customer service hotlines are 1800-629 2265 (1800-MAYBANK) and (65) 6533 5229 (Overseas customers). While Maybank does have an online feedback form, they will not respond to account related information/requests on this platform.

10. Why didn't I get a full credit balance refund for my overpaid credit card?

So you requested a credit card balance refund on your overpaid credit card bill. Your bank approved the request, and transferred the refund into your bank account — except it's less than the amount you were expecting. What's going on?

No, your bank isn't stealing your money. Most likely, you got refunded the current excess credit, which takes into account the additional purchases you've charged to your credit card since making the refund request. The bank has already "used" a portion of the excess amount you paid to offset these new purchases. Your next credit card bill will reflect this.

If you still want the full credit balance refund amount , i.e. the amount you transferred — the last credit card bill received, you have to contact your bank and explain the situation. Note that those self-service tools available with banks like DBS and Standard Chartered won't be of any use to you in this case; they'll just reflect a $0 balance after they processed your refund.

11. How long does the credit balance refund take?

This depends on the bank, but generally should take between two to five working days.

From my own personal experience, the process was very fast. After submitting the request via online chat in the wee hours of the morning, I received the refund later that very same day.

If, say, a full week has passed and you still haven't gotten your money back, you may want to contact your bank to check on your credit balance refund request. If you can't get through on their hotlines or online live chats for some reason, at least make sure your credit card still reflects a negative balance — i.e. excess credit that can still be used to offset next month's bill.

ALSO READ: 4 key questions to ask yourself before signing up for a credit card

This article was first published in MoneySmart.