Credit Cards

[Dekker]

Hello all.

In this thread, http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/50-Point-Drop-And-I-Am-An-Idiot/m-p/479603, Sidewinder made the following statement on 4/12/09 regarding making a credit card payment in time to impact one's credit report: "Make sure and pay it down before the last business day of the month, because whatever your balance is on that day is what is reported."

Is this true - is the balance on the last business day of the month what is reported?  Or, should one be focused on paying several days before a Statement cuts?

I'll be calling my card issuers tomorrow to see if they can tell me, but I'd like to check with you folks as well

Thanks!

[smallfry]

Some cards report end of month balances. Most post the statement balance. Some have even been known to post mid cycle with no warning. One reason I dumped BofA. 

[Dekker]

Thanks Smallfry!

I'll be paying off my BoA balance this Friday anyway, but this potential "roving reporting" is definitely something I'm glad to learn of. 

I just posted another post about making multiple monthly payments - doing so could possibly help negate the impact of a roving reporter, if one were concerned about getting balances paid off in time for apartment hunting or whatnot.

Thanks again, I'm aware of something else to keep an eye on

[llecs]

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Dekker wrote:

Hello all.

In this thread, http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/50-Point-Drop-And-I-Am-An-Idiot/m-p/479603, Sidewinder made the following statement on 4/12/09 regarding making a credit card payment in time to impact one's credit report: "Make sure and pay it down before the last business day of the month, because whatever your balance is on that day is what is reported."

Is this true - is the balance on the last business day of the month what is reported?  Or, should one be focused on paying several days before a Statement cuts?

I'll be calling my card issuers tomorrow to see if they can tell me, but I'd like to check with you folks as well

Thanks!

---

Sidewinder said that in that thread because OP makes mention that his/her card was an Orchard Bank CC. HSBC (non-store) and Orchard both report the balance you had on the last business day of the month. AFAIK, these are the only cards that report like that. 99% of the CCs out there will report the balance you had on your statement date.

[Dekker]

Thanks, Llecs! 

[playboy]

Well, I got a Cap One card a couple of weeks ago and I paid the balance before the statement date.  I'm trying to build my credit score, but is reporting a zero balance to the CRA good?

[ottergo4]

     My USbank card reports the balance as of the last business day of the month,. not the balance when the statement cuts ( unless they're the same ).