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Interest charges after paying off balance in full

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thrasher865
Valued Contributor

Interest charges after paying off balance in full

Ok, lets say I just paid off three of my CCs that I had carried a balance on for 3 or 4 months, and I want my reports to show zero balances on these cards next month.  I know I will be charged part of a months finance charges on my next statement.  Will my credit reports reflect this interest on my balance or will they update to show zero, and I would have a month to pay the interest charges before they report?

 

Basically, if I want my reports to reflect zero balance, do I need to submit a payment to where the CCCs actually owe me a small balance?  If that is the case, I may have screwed myself by paying them off already before asking, as I'm pretty sure most CCCs won't let you make a payment when you have zero balance. Smiley Sad


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Message 1 of 11
10 REPLIES 10
DI
Super Contributor

Re: Interest charges after paying off balance in full

If you want your account to show zero on your credit reports, you will have to PIF before the new statement cuts.  Most statement cuts about 5-7 days after the due date. 



Message Edited by DI on 11-16-2009 03:00 PM
Message 2 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Interest charges after paying off balance in full


@thrasher865 wrote:

Ok, lets say I just paid off three of my CCs that I had carried a balance on for 3 or 4 months, and I want my reports to show zero balances on these cards next month.  I know I will be charged part of a months finance charges on my next statement.  Will my credit reports reflect this interest on my balance or will they update to show zero, and I would have a month to pay the interest charges before they report?

 

Basically, if I want my reports to reflect zero balance, do I need to submit a payment to where the CCCs actually owe me a small balance?  If that is the case, I may have screwed myself by paying them off already before asking, as I'm pretty sure most CCCs won't let you make a payment when you have zero balance. Smiley Sad


You generally can't do an online payment on the issuer's website if your balance is zero, but you can mail a check or do a billpay from your bank. You could just slightly overestimate the partial month's interest, have your payment post before the statement closes, and then request a refund check for the credit balance. If you intend to use the account again in 2-3 months to show activity, you could just leave the credit balance on there ...

Message 3 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Interest charges after paying off balance in full

In my experience the interest is charged at the same time as the statement cuts.  The only way to avoid this is to over pay; you can do that with Bill pay usually.  I use BofA.

 

Submit a payment with billpay for a few dollars more than you think the inertest charge will be.

 

Another way to do it would be to go buy something, pay off the balance, and then return the item producing a credit.

Message 4 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Interest charges after paying off balance in full

residual interest should not affact grace period, what haapens you are revovling, you PIF 10 days after your most statement , because PIF before the next statement, but you still for 9 days, last year I BT with chase for about 4 months thr day I paided itoff called chase to ask if I could start using my card without incuuring any fees, they said, my next statement I a $1 of residiual interst and nothing on the statement

Message Edited by rbbyrbsn on 11-16-2009 10:30 PM
Message 5 of 11
thrasher865
Valued Contributor

Re: Interest charges after paying off balance in full


@Anonymous wrote:

residual interest should not affact grace period, what haapens you are revovling, you PIF 10 days after your most statement , because PIF before the next statement, but you still for 9 days, last year I BT with chase for about 4 months thr day I paided itoff called chase to ask if I could start using my card without incuuring any fees, they said, my next statement I a $1 of residiual interst and nothing on the statement

Message Edited by rbbyrbsn on 11-16-2009 10:30 PM

 

I'm not quite sure I fully understand your post.  Nor am I confident you understood mine, lol.  I know that finance charges won't affect my grace period for future purchases.  I just wanted to know if I needed to take any extra steps to make sure that the finance charges don't show up as a balance on my reports for another month.  Two of my cards let me make a small $5-$10 payment to cover finance charges and the other two I just sent a payment through my banks online billpay.  Unfortunately, I just got a statement in the mail for one.  I paid it 2 days before the statement date, but the balance still shows up on my statement.  I hope it doesn't show up on the report, but it won't be the end of the world if it does.  I'll just have to wait another month to finance my christmas present Smiley Happy

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Message 6 of 11
IOBA
Senior Contributor

Re: Interest charges after paying off balance in full

Thrasher -  My suggestion is to call up the cc and ask them for a 10 day payoff figure.  (Or whatever the payoff time frame for you is - like 3 days.)

 

Then pay that amount.  I have successfully done it over the phone and they waived the fee.  I have successfully paid on the website the amount showing and sent the difference from my bank account.

 

When it's been overpaid, they have credited the interest.

 

*On my credit report -- it showed zero balance -- because I had already prepaid the interest they were going to charge.*  Smiley Happy

Message 7 of 11
marty56
Super Contributor

Re: Interest charges after paying off balance in full


@IOBA wrote:

Thrasher -  My suggestion is to call up the cc and ask them for a 10 day payoff figure.  (Or whatever the payoff time frame for you is - like 3 days.)


+1.  I also found I dont get charged if I PIF by the due date but never thought about if I had to revolve a balance.  Back in the days when my DMP program was comming to an end, calling and asking for a payoff statement never occured to me.

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Message 8 of 11
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Interest charges after paying off balance in full


@Anonymous wrote:

In my experience the interest is charged at the same time as the statement cuts.  The only way to avoid this is to over pay; you can do that with Bill pay usually.  I use BofA.

 

Submit a payment with billpay for a few dollars more than you think the inertest charge will be.

 

Another way to do it would be to go buy something, pay off the balance, and then return the item producing a credit.


You have no ethical problem doing this? Knowingly buying something you have no intention on keeping? I hope you were just kidding.

Message 9 of 11
creditwherecreditisdue
Senior Contributor

Re: Interest charges after paying off balance in full


marinevietvet wrote:

anevilpetingzoo wrote:

In my experience the interest is charged at the same time as the statement cutsThe only way to avoid this is to over pay; you can do that with Bill pay usuallyI use BofA.

 

Submit a payment with billpay for a few dollars more than you think the inertest charge will be.

 

Another way to do it would be to go buy something, pay off the balance, and then return the item producing a credit.


You have no ethical problem doing this? Knowingly buying something you have no intention on keeping? I hope you were just kidding.


It's not exactly unethical. On the other hands it's not exactly necessary.

Message 10 of 11
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