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Received Cap One Secured Card

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Received Cap One Secured Card

Hello Everyone.

 

I received my Cap one Secured Card and would like some guidance in using it.

Per their statement by Payment Date is on the 6th of each month, their billing date is in the 9th and they report to the Credit Bureaus on the 12th.

I'm a dummy in regards to cards since this is my first one and I'm afraid of paying it too early and they reporting a 0% Util. Would you mind guiding me?

 

 

Message 1 of 14
13 REPLIES 13
-NewGuy-
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Received Cap One Secured Card


@Anonymous wrote:

Hello Everyone.

 

I received my Cap one Secured Card and would like some guidance in using it.

Per their statement by Payment Date is on the 6th of each month, their billing date is in the 9th and they report to the Credit Bureaus on the 12th.

I'm a dummy in regards to cards since this is my first one and I'm afraid of paying it too early and they reporting a 0% Util. Would you mind guiding me?

 

 


No problem, it can get confusing for sure.

 

The easiest way to think about it is to rearrange the order in which you listed everything to this: billing date on the 9th, report to the CRs on the 12th, bill due on the 6th of next month.

 

Since it's your first month with the card it'll work like this. Today is the 29th. You will use your card until the 9th. Whatever balance you have at the end of business on the 9th will be your statement balance, and will report to the CRs on the 12th. You will then have until the 6th of the following month to pay it off. Simply pay in full before the 6th and you will pay no interest. Does that make sense?

Message 2 of 14
Creditwiser
Valued Contributor

Re: Received Cap One Secured Card

Ok so the first thing you do if you havnt already is to download their phone app and make sure you have the online account set up. Next, dont worry about paying too early and reporting zero Util. It doesnt matter and every now and then if you like, you can leave a small amount to show some UTL and to give them a tiny bit of interest. Your UTL only matters on a month to month basis and unless you need your score as high as it can be because you're apping for something else, then dont worry about it.

 

If you want to monitor your UTL, just see when the statement period ends and try to have a small balance report when the statement cuts, Normally it will cut the same day every month. Holidays and weekends will change that a bit from time to time.  Also, keep this in mind, if you have a $300 CL, or whatever it is, you can use the card for small purchases, tank of gas or whatever and pay it as soon as it posts to your account.  I often buy and pay , buy and pay many many times per month.  It shows Cap1 that I use the card and use it responsibly as I PIF and it makes them money from the vendor fee's they receive.

 

You want to keep the UTL low when it reports, but dont get too hung up on it. Just use the card responsibly and PIF as much as you can and as often as you can.

NFCU Visa 30k | NFCU Platinum 30k | Cap1 QS 12K | Cap1 QS 11.5K | Barclay MC 9k | Delta Gold Amex 30K | Discover IT 14K | CFNA FS 3200 | CareCredit 20k| Paypal Credit 5k |
Message 3 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Received Cap One Secured Card

It surely does new guy!!!

 

Let me rephrase it,

 

Everything I charge on my card until the 9th, I will be billed a statement for on the 12th,

I should be able to pay it prior the Nov 6th so no interest is applied?

Message 4 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Received Cap One Secured Card


@jettech wrote:

Ok so the first thing you do if you havnt already is to download their phone app and make sure you have the online account set up. Next, dont worry about paying too early and reporting zero Util. It doesnt matter and every now and then if you like, you can leave a small amount to show some UTL and to give them a tiny bit of interest. Your UTL only matters on a month to month basis and unless you need your score as high as it can be because you're apping for something else, then dont worry about it.

 

If you want to monitor your UTL, just see when the statement period ends and try to have a small balance report when the statement cuts, Normally it will cut the same day every month. Holidays and weekends will change that a bit from time to time.  Also, keep this in mind, if you have a $300 CL, or whatever it is, you can use the card for small purchases, tank of gas or whatever and pay it as soon as it posts to your account.  I often buy and pay , buy and pay many many times per month.  It shows Cap1 that I use the card and use it responsibly as I PIF and it makes them money from the vendor fee's they receive.

 

You want to keep the UTL low when it reports, but dont get too hung up on it. Just use the card responsibly and PIF as much as you can and as often as you can.


 

 Woooow Lots of helpful information, Thank you so much. I  was so afraid I thought i only had from Nov 6th to the 9th to spend Smiley Tongue

Silly me....

Message 5 of 14
-NewGuy-
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Received Cap One Secured Card


@Anonymous wrote:

It surely does new guy!!!

 

Let me rephrase it,

 

Everything I charge on my card until the 9th, I will be billed a statement for on the 12th,

I should be able to pay it prior the Nov 6th so no interest is applied?


You got it Smiley Happy

Message 6 of 14
Creditwiser
Valued Contributor

Re: Received Cap One Secured Card

Also, you can set up for automatic minimum payments. Of course you can pay on your own at any time and more than minimum, but with minimum payments set up, you will never ever ever be late if by chance you forget and that is of utmost importance as Im sure you're aware of.  With my Cap 1 phone app, not a day goes by where Im not checking my account. My usage, balance, payments etc.  Its that easy.

NFCU Visa 30k | NFCU Platinum 30k | Cap1 QS 12K | Cap1 QS 11.5K | Barclay MC 9k | Delta Gold Amex 30K | Discover IT 14K | CFNA FS 3200 | CareCredit 20k| Paypal Credit 5k |
Message 7 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Received Cap One Secured Card

Jusd downloaded the app!!!

 

 

Will play with it until I figure out how to do the automatic payments!!!

 

Question If I spend $20.00 (since my CL is $200)

and I make an automative payment of lets say $19.00 and leave that last $1 to acrrue interest will that be helpful to my credit or would it be better to pay in full each month. Do you mind explaining your reasoning?

 

Message 8 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Received Cap One Secured Card

In order to simplify it a little think of it this way. Only TWO days matter. The 6th, and the 9th. You want $0 balance showing on the 6th to save interest charges - so pay it down before then. You want less than 10%, (but not 0%) of the limit showing as a balance on the 9th to be reported - so put some small charges on it between the 6th and the 9th. The rest of the month you can charge it up and pay it down as often as you like - the more the merrier. The more often it get used the more likely they are to raise your limit, because they prefer to make money from the vendor fees rather than interest - no risk to them that way.

Message 9 of 14
-NewGuy-
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Received Cap One Secured Card


@Anonymous wrote:

Jusd downloaded the app!!!

 

 

Will play with it until I figure out how to do the automatic payments!!!

 

Question If I spend $20.00 (since my CL is $200)

and I make an automative payment of lets say $19.00 and leave that last $1 to acrrue interest will that be helpful to my credit or would it be better to pay in full each month. Do you mind explaining your reasoning?

 


Paying interest does absolutely zero to improve your credit score. Nothing at all. Whatever reports to the CRs on the 12th is the only figure that they care about.

Message 10 of 14
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