What a returned payment fee is on a credit card
A returned payment fee is a card fee, not the purchase that failed. The issuer charged it because a payment you sent to the card was not honored, came back unpaid, or could not be processed. A bank fee for a check or a debit that the bank itself returned is a different line. Those bank lines are on [returned deposit and returned item fees](/guides/returned-item-fees-us). The card fee is the subject of this page.
Last updated: October 19, 2026
Last checked: Oct 2026
What the US rule limits
Regulation Z, section 1026.52, limits penalty fees on a consumer credit card. The official interpretation says the dollar amount tied to a returned payment is the required minimum payment that was due immediately before the payment came back. The issuer cannot charge a returned payment fee higher than that minimum, even if the fee table prints a higher number. The same interpretation says that if the issuer sends that same payment again and it comes back a second time, there is no extra dollar amount for the second return, so the issuer cannot add another returned payment fee for that second return. A late fee and a returned payment fee that come from the same event are also limited. The commentary's example is a payment that misses the due date and then bounces. In that example the issuer may charge one of those fees, not both.
The safe harbor dollar in the commentary examples is not a promise that your card uses that example. Issuers can also set a fee from their own cost calculation, still subject to the minimum payment cap. The amount on your statement is the one in your card agreement. Check that agreement before you treat any national figure as your fee.
What Chase and RBC print
A Chase sample cardmember agreement, file COL00079, lists Return Payment as up to $40. The same table says a single violation of each type will not exceed $29. If another violation of the same type happens within six monthly billing periods, Chase says it will charge up to the maximum in the table. The late payment fee and the return payment fee will not exceed the related minimum payment that was due. Chase says it may charge the fee if the payment is not honored, is returned unpaid, or cannot be processed. The same agreement says a returned unpaid payment can also be a reason to apply a penalty APR. That interest change is separate from the fee. Another Chase agreement can print a different cap. Use the agreement for the card in your hand, from Chase's cardmember agreement page.
An RBC Royal Bank information box, the Signature RBC Rewards Visa box opened 19 October 2026, prints Dishonoured Payment: $45, charged on the date a payment reversal is posted, for a payment returned to the credit card. That is one RBC document. The Canada card fee page uses a different RBC page that does not print this dollar. Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC, and TD documents opened 16 October 2026 are already in the table on credit card fees by bank in Canada. A Quebec account can be excluded on some of those rows. Read the row for the bank, then the information box for your own card, because two cards from the same bank can differ.
How to ask for a review
Pay what you still owe with a payment that can clear, so a retry does not bounce again. Then call the number on the statement. Have the date, the fee name, and the amount. Ask which payment was returned and why. If the bank or the card company returned it in error, say so. If the fee is higher than the minimum that was due just before the return, say that and ask them to correct it. Asking for a review of a first fee is a normal request. The issuer can say no when the fee matches the agreement and the rule.
A returned payment on a Canadian card can also move the interest rate up after missed payments. That rate change is described on the Canada card fee page. It is not the same as the dishonoured payment dollar. Upload the statement on Expenvo. The PDF stays on your device. Expenvo lists the lines. It does not sign in to the bank or the company, and it does not cancel a plan. How to read a statement PDF keeps the fee line separate from the payment that came back.
Questions
- Is this the same as an NSF fee on my bank account?
- No. An NSF or returned item fee is the bank charging the deposit account. A returned payment fee on this page is the card issuer charging the credit card because the payment to the card did not go through.
- Can the issuer charge the fee twice if it retries the same payment?
- The Regulation Z interpretation says a second return of the same payment does not create another returned payment fee. A new payment that later bounces is a different event.
- Does every Canadian card charge $45?
- No. The RBC information box opened for this page prints $45. Other banks print other amounts on the Canada card fee page, and some rows exclude Quebec. Your own information box controls.
Sources
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