Avoiding interest.

[Anonymous]

We have a new Capital One card and I am confused when to pay the bill in order to avoid interest.  I made a purchase on Feb 3rd and the 6th.  I have not received a statement yet and it does not even show on the website even though I activated it through there.  I called and it says my balance but no payment due so I can't pay on it.   Then it says if you hold a balance the payment due date is March 18th.

So when do I need to pay this off by in order to avoid the interest?  How do I pay before the due date if it is showing no payment due?  I am using this card to help build our credit and show our available credit as higher until we pay down a balance on another card.  Thank you!

[bz386]

Wait for the statement to cut. The due date will be 25 days later. It will also be prominently displayed on the statement. Pay any time before the due date.

[Anonymous]

Hi, freshstart! You should still be able to click on "Pay Bill" while logged in to your Cap1 account even though there's no payment due, and then select "Other amount" and put in the amount you want to pay. I'm trying to figure Cap1 out too, but I believe if you pay in full every month, you won't accrue interest; but, if you make a partial payment and carry a balance over into the next cycle, you will have interest. Others with more experience can join in. 

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi, freshstart! You should still be able to click on "Pay Bill" while logged in to your Cap1 account even though there's no payment due, and then select "Other amount" and put in the amount you want to pay. I'm trying to figure Cap1 out too, but I believe if you pay in full every month, you won't accrue interest; but, if you make a partial payment and carry a balance over into the next cycle, you will have interest. Others with more experience can join in. 

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+1

The only reason to pay before the statement cuts is if you don't want a balance to report to the CRAs or if you need to make a purchase that is over your available credit amount. 

Otherwise if you simply want to avoid interest just let the statement generate and pay the statement balance in full before the due date and you'll be fine. 

Note:  If you send the payment from your bank's bill pay (rather than using the Capital One website) you can send whatever amount you want, whenever you want.  It will take a couple of days to show up, but I like the extra control. 

[Anonymous]

The thing that I do not understand is that we have a capital one card under my husbands social and the new card is not even showing on the website.  How do I get it to show?  It said if there is a balance the payment will be March 18th so does that mean the statement will cut 25 days before that?   I was planning on paying it off March 16th, is that too late.  Sorry this confusing to me lol.   And yes I want it to show I made a purchase because I am trying to build or credit.  Thank you for all the help.

[Anonymous]

Wait for the statement to come it takes about a month for the statement then you have 25 days from the statement date to make a payment.

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The thing that I do not understand is that we have a capital one card under my husbands social and the new card is not even showing on the website.  How do I get it to show?  It said if there is a balance the payment will be March 18th so does that mean the statement will cut 25 days before that?   I was planning on paying it off March 16th, is that too late.  Sorry this confusing to me lol.   And yes I want it to show I made a purchase because I am trying to build or credit.  Thank you for all the help.

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Ahh... I know what you're talking about; I got a new Venture last month and I saw the same thing, and it can be confusing.

With a new card they show you what the payment due date will be... the actual statement will generate before that.  I guess they felt it would be helpful for us to know what the due date on the new card would be even before we got the first statement.

If it's showing you that the payment will be due on March 18 you'll be fine if you make the payment on March 16. 

As far as the card being on the Capital One dashboard, I have to defer to others on that.  My oldest Capital One account is quite old (soon to be 10 years) and my other two were added at the time of approval (they asked me for my existing login).  If that didn't work for you it should be possible to add the account once the plastic card is received.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The thing that I do not understand is that we have a capital one card under my husbands social and the new card is not even showing on the website.  How do I get it to show?  It said if there is a balance the payment will be March 18th so does that mean the statement will cut 25 days before that?   I was planning on paying it off March 16th, is that too late.  Sorry this confusing to me lol.   And yes I want it to show I made a purchase because I am trying to build or credit.  Thank you for all the help.

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the new card is not even showing on the website. Log in to his online account, then click on "Services" at the top and select "Link your Accounts" in the drop down list. Once you click on it, select "Enroll my Card." I'm assuming it will work to add a joint card, but not 100% on that.

the payment will be March 18th so does that mean the statement will cut 25 days before that? If your payment is due on the 18th, then your statement should cut on the 21st. If your first statement hasn't cut yet, then wait 'til it does so it reports like you want it to, then pay in full before the due date.

I hope this makes sense the way I put it. 

Edited to clarify: If your first payment will be due on March 18th, then your first statement should post on Feb 21st.

[rmduhon]

You can make a payment even if there's no payment due. Hubby's and my 'play' card never has a payment due because they are paid before the statement cuts.

[Anonymous]

Thank you I was able to set the card up so I can see the summary on it.  It does say:

Min due will be calculated after Feb. 21, 2017.  So is it 25 days from this date that I need to pay in order to avoid the interest?  I am planning on March 16th when my husband gets a bonus as long as the interest will not hit before then.