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This is what happened to me. My account with penny's has been At 0 since July 2014. In December, I used the card to make a purchase so that I get free shipping. Within 2 days, mid cycle, fico hit me with 3 points for using a dormant account. So yes, I think that are reporting more than just at the end of the billing cycle. I'm sure it's there in the small print where most of us won't read it.
So for the answers here, they report when you use the card to buy something and not for paying. The payment is reported until statement close date. Interesting.
EDIT: my wife JCP card is only reporting last statement balance. She bought $75 2 days after the statement cut (15 days ago) and the reports didn't change.