topic Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut? in Credit Cards

How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

daybreakgonesXe — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:29:08 GMT

Hey guys! So I think I'm going to play around with the whole "one card reports small utilization" to see if this will result in a rise in my scores next month! :D the question of the night is: when do YOU PIF on the cards you don't want to report?? What is the recommended time frame to PIF before statement cut if I only want to make one payment a month to my CC? Any companies do an odd reporting, like mid-statement? Feel free to input your personal experiences based on my cards and their affiliate companies, or any other companies you have! Think I'll just have the small utilization report on my JCPenney!

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

sakhalin070 — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:40:45 GMT

I tend to pay mid-cycle and then just PIF after the statement cuts, so only half of my actual spending reports.

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

chnceit — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:44:28 GMT

3-4 days before the statement cuts so I know it will report $0

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

creditnocash — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:46:47 GMT

i make sure to pay by due date and then dont spend anything until a statement is put up.

for example my chase freedom is due 12/7 i pif on that day and then dont use it for a few days (usually the 10th) and then use it whenever. i use another card for the time being

my balance due is always 0 since i pay in full so if for whatever reason i forget to pay it no hard since they are all new charges.

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

brother7 — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:52:16 GMT

daybreakgonesXe wrote:
I only want to make one payment a month to my CC

If you make only one payment/month, then you should pay your current account balance (which should be more than your last statement balance) by the due date AND stop using the card until the next statement date. That will result in a zero balance on your next statement.

If you make payments on the credit card company's website via checking account debit, you can schedule a payment 1 day before the due date. The payment will be on time and the payment will be posted before the next statement.

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

daybreakgonesXe — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:56:20 GMT

brother7 wrote:
daybreakgonesXe wrote:
I only want to make one payment a month to my CC
If you make only one payment/month, then you should pay your current account balance (which should be more than your last statement balance) by the due date AND stop using the card until the next statement date. That will result in a zero balance on your next statement.

If you make payments on the credit card company's website via checking account debit, you can schedule a payment 1 day before the due date. The payment will be on time and the payment will be posted before the next statement.

Great advice! :D I just checked my Equifax report to see when each company reports each account and marked it down in my calendar. But I agree, paying a day or two before the due date on both my statement and current balances will result in the $0 reporting for the next month as long as I don't spend between the due date and statement cut, and then from there it's always the current account balance to keep at it. I'm sure after a couple go-rounds I'll have it down to a science! Now, it's just a waiting game for my free annual report to see when Transunion and Experian receive information from my CC companies...

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

creditnocash — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:57:13 GMT

brother7 wrote:
daybreakgonesXe wrote:
I only want to make one payment a month to my CC
If you make only one payment/month, then you should pay your current account balance (which should be more than your last statement balance) by the due date AND stop using the card until the next statement date. That will result in a zero balance on your next statement.

If you make payments on the credit card company's website via checking account debit, you can schedule a payment 1 day before the due date. The payment will be on time and the payment will be posted before the next statement.

depends which bank/cu you send it from.

i have to set it up 3 buisness days ahead of time.

and do the math if i have any pending charges so there is no surprises.

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

Joesh — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:59:47 GMT

So does reporting 0% utilization actually help your score? I thought the goal was to report between a small nonzero amount (like 5%)

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

daybreakgonesXe — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:03:08 GMT

Joesh wrote:
So does reporting 0% utilization actually help your score? I thought the goal was to report between a small nonzero amount (like 5%)

Not really; you're right, reporting a small nonzero amount is best! I'm just discussing having an overall utilization with just one card reporting, instead of all my cards reporting balances.

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

Joesh — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:15:02 GMT

daybreakgonesXe wrote:
Joesh wrote:
So does reporting 0% utilization actually help your score? I thought the goal was to report between a small nonzero amount (like 5%)
Not really; you're right, reporting a small nonzero amount is best! I'm just discussing having an overall utilization with just one card reporting, instead of all my cards reporting balances.

Gotcha, thanks. 2nd question - are you thinking that 0% utilization on all cards and small utilization on one card will result in a higher score?

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

daybreakgonesXe — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:17:29 GMT

Hmm. I'm also looking at my new Chase Sapphire account...the due date isn't until January 16th, and I'm trying to figure out when a statement cut will occur...based on my Freedom, the statement cuts every 25th day and the payment is the 22nd of the next month, so do you think it's safe to assume the statement cut for the Sapphire's January 16th due date would be December 19th? In that case, will PIF on December 17th make it in time since there's no due date for this month?

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

jefftca925 — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:20:30 GMT

I pay by the "due date" or no less than the day before a statement is to close. I also don't use the card until the statement has officially posted. Chase is notorious for pushing a transaction thru to post if they can bill it on a statement...even if the charge is made on the statement closing date!

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

daybreakgonesXe — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:23:11 GMT

Joesh wrote:
daybreakgonesXe wrote:
Joesh wrote:
So does reporting 0% utilization actually help your score? I thought the goal was to report between a small nonzero amount (like 5%)
Not really; you're right, reporting a small nonzero amount is best! I'm just discussing having an overall utilization with just one card reporting, instead of all my cards reporting balances.
Gotcha, thanks. 2nd question - are you thinking that 0% utilization on all cards and small utilization on one card will result in a higher score?

That seems to be the consensus from many members, since utilization factored into FICO is over all your tradelines, and not necessarily based on the individual ones. Also, some scores consider many balances you have on your report. Therefore, reporting a balance on all 6 of my cards at or above the scheduled minimum payment would be $160 of payments I'm responsible for each month (5 $25 plus a $35 payments), compared to if I had 0 balances on my other cards and one balance on my JCPenney, making it look like I only have a $25 obligation each month.

I'm doing it to play around with it. It is also highly recommended to do before going for a top tier card, auto loan, mortgage, etc., since some credit card companies and almost every loan company will look at your debt to income ratio! It'll also help you milk some extra points into your FICO. But if you're gardening and not looking for the highest scores, keeping balances on all or a few of your cards won't kill you! I've been doing it since I've first got a credit card, and my scores are pretty good regardless!

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

daybreakgonesXe — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:26:52 GMT

jefftca925 wrote:
I pay by the "due date" or no less than the day before a statement is to close. I also don't use the card until the statement has officially posted. Chase is notorious for pushing a transaction thru to post if they can bill it on a statement...even if the charge is made on the statement closing date!

That actually JUST had that happen on my Penney's card!! I had some pending transactions because of a bunch of orders my mother placed, and they usually won't post officially on your account until they have been shipped. Well, the day before my statement cut, I looked and there were still a bunch of them pending. Balance was somewhere in the $200s. Keep in mind these pending shipments have been like this foreverr, and some of them haven't actually shipped out. Once my statement cut? Wham, bam, thank you m'mam: there were all those sneaky pending shipment orders added to the statement -_- so my statement balance shot up from $200-something to a little above $600. Gotta love 'em...

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

maiden_girl — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:37:48 GMT

It doesn't matter really if you pay before your statement cut. If the company reports mid-cycle lets say like Discover, you're screwed anyway. Lol.

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

Dustink — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 09:02:10 GMT

maiden_girl wrote:
It doesn't matter really if you pay before your statement cut. If the company reports mid-cycle lets say like Discover, you're screwed anyway. Lol.

I PIF weekly or even more often than that. I have a pretty good idea of when my cards report, but sometimes they can be a little funky. So I error on the side of caution and just make sure the balances are always low.

US Bank seems to report the current balance on the morning 3 days prior to the statement date. The statement date varies depending on how the business days happen to fall whether its a weekend or holiday on the statement date. The others all seem to report their statement balances which again is hard to track because sometimes that date changes.

Truly the only safe way to get a card to report a $0 balance is to not use the card. Or to overpay the card and then use it. Otherwise, a bank may report the balance at any random time.

I would say your best bet is to just not worry about it. Let your normal spending report normally. You don't want to make your utilization artificially low, then app for a card. Get approved. then have your utilization return to normal and have that creditor AA you for having high utilization. If your limits are fine, then don't worry about it too much. If you are just doing it one month for the fun of it. Pay everything off now, then use one card and pay that card in full every few days.

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

visorboy1974 — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 09:41:39 GMT

Usually by the due date and then I rotate another card into the mix between due date and statement cut so I don't have any additional charges on the card.

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

Repo-ed — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:35:14 GMT

7 days, to allow for clearing.

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

Bay_Area_Joe — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:47:56 GMT

I usually pay via the CC web site an electronic transfer from my checking one day prior to the due date. Some CC you have to schedule payment before 2:00pm ET or it will be next day.

I did see a considerable difference in my scores as paid about 6 accounts that had small balances reporting at statement cut to only having 1 or 2 accounts with balances.

I am also doing a little experiment right now, last month I had two accounts report a balance and I was at 16% ULT, and this month I will only have 1 account reporting and I will be just a bit less than 5% UTL, and next month I will only have 1 account report with the covenanted 1% UTL and see what kind of jump I can get.

I am hoping to close in on about 780 MyFICO score. I am still trying to perfect the whole Credit Score.

This site has been wonderful and I thank all the people that post great stuff.

Thanks....

Re: How many days do YOU PIF before statement cut?

Croselx — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:29:08 GMT

If the statement cut date is on the 5th you have until that day to pay and not have it report on next month's statement (assuming it is a business day, transaction is done early on the day and using a proven payment method that will post quickly). All transactions done on the statement cut day WILL appear on the next statement. On my example I can begin charging my card on the 6th and not have it report on the statement that just cut the day prior. Just find out if the payment method you are using posts immediately (e-check for example) and if you are required to pay before a certain time (from my experience before 5PM, but maybe earlier so it is best to do it in the morning to be sure).