topic Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation in Credit Cards

Residual / Trailing interest calculation

Household61974 — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 05:46:44 GMT

One would think credit card issuers would be required to provide consumers with a payoff PLUS a per diem for residual interest when requested.
Evidently Amex can't and won't.

Please check my math:

Statement closing date was 2/13 with balance of $2338.03 (including $20.19 interest).

Since then, following activity:
2/15 $7.20

2/15 $106.62

2/16 -$2338.03 (payment)

2/18 $22.65

Total Balance as of 3/6/26 is $136.47.

APR 12.74%

If I make a payment of $141.23 ($136.47 + $4.76) online through Amex website on 3/7, my 3/17 statement should show a balance due of $0.00. Am I correct?

Paying 7 cards off, leaving one with around $50 balance on it, to try and bump up Mortgage FICO a bit before applying with a hard pull later this month.

Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation

Patient957 — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 13:59:51 GMT

@Household61974 wrote:
One would think credit card issuers would be required to provide consumers with a payoff PLUS a per diem for residual interest when requested.
Evidently Amex can't and won't.

Please check my math:
Statement closing date was 2/13 with balance of $2338.03 (including $20.19 interest).

Since then, following activity:
2/15 $7.20
2/15 $106.62
2/16 -$2338.03 (payment)
2/18 $22.65

Total Balance as of 3/6/26 is $136.47.
APR 12.74%

If I make a payment of $141.23 ($136.47 + $4.76) online through Amex website on 3/7, my 3/17 statement should show a balance due of $0.00. Am I correct?

Paying 7 cards off, leaving one with around $50 balance on it, to try and bump up Mortgage FICO a bit before applying with a hard pull later this month.

I'm not sure about your calculations, but I will offer a couple other points:

(1) I don't think having a small balance on 2 cards out of 7 would be any different scorewise than AZE1.

(2) If you really want to be sure to get a 0 balance reported on this Amex, why not just overpay by a little? A negative balance would report as 0.

Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation

Varsity_Lu — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 14:46:32 GMT

@Household61974 wrote:
Paying 7 cards off, leaving one with around $50 balance on it, to try and bump up Mortgage FICO a bit before applying with a hard pull later this month.

I think you are overthinking this. Just pay 4 of them to zero. The other 3, as long as their utilization isn't too high, won't have much if any affect on your score. AZEO isn't a magic formula, just a general rule of thumb. The principle you are going for here is to keep at least half of your accounts reporting zero.

Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation

ocheosa — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 15:50:07 GMT

@Household61974 ,

Is your Amex a charge card or revolver?

If a revolver, I would pay off the ~$50 card and let the Amex report organically, then pay the balance once the statement cuts.

If a charge card, if it doesn't let you pay more than current balance, push payment from your bank to the card and pay an additional $20 to be safe. On the current statement you can look under the interest charge calculation section to see the amount still being charged interest (balance subject to interest) and make an educated guess.

Also keep in mind if the numbers don't fall as needed for best rate your loan officer can always do a rapid rescore if necessary once you've paid everthing down. Good luck!

Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation

FicoMike0 — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 17:05:41 GMT

If I'm understanding correctly, the goal is to cover trailing interest and achieve aze1. Ditto the others, id try to overpay a little to insure zero. Also, "leaving one with around $50 balance on it" isnt clear to me. I'll just repeat, utilization is about reported balance, you don't have to carry a balance.

Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation

bs1234 — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 19:11:07 GMT

@Household61974 wrote:
One would think credit card issuers would be required to provide consumers with a payoff PLUS a per diem for residual interest when requested.
Evidently Amex can't and won't.

Please check my math:
Statement closing date was 2/13 with balance of $2338.03 (including $20.19 interest).

Since then, following activity:
2/15 $7.20
2/15 $106.62
2/16 -$2338.03 (payment)
2/18 $22.65

Total Balance as of 3/6/26 is $136.47.
APR 12.74%

If I make a payment of $141.23 ($136.47 + $4.76) online through Amex website on 3/7, my 3/17 statement should show a balance due of $0.00. Am I correct?

I can't remember all the details at present, but isn't the "trap" of trailing interest that we will also need to see the charges on the 2/13 statement?

So say you bought something on 2/1. Since you didn't PIF, you owe interest on that from 2/1 to 2/13 which is reflected in the interest charge on that statement. But interest on that continues to accrue up to at least 3/7 and even after you pay the balance in full (as it really isn't in full). You need two statements reporting 0 to be clear.

Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation

Kforce — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 21:48:41 GMT

My math with a couple of extra days for payment to credit account.

$140, so I believe you would be fine.

I agree with everyone, it is best to overpay by a few dollars, if it is a card you use monthly.

The problem with math like this is when are the payments and charges added. ?

Are you credited when you push the payment or a day or two later.

Same with charges, day it was made or when it posted as complete?

A two day delay in your first payment credit would be $5.17 in interest vs $3.52, with no other

changes.

I used your dates, but easy for a couple dollars in error depending on when they credit events .....

         Date          Amt          Bal    Days     
  -------------------------------------------------
      2026-02-13     -2338.03    -2338.03     0       
      2026-02-15      -113.82    -2451.85     2       
      2026-02-16      2338.03     -113.82     1      
      2026-02-18       -22.65     -136.47     2       
      2026-03-09         0        -136.47    19     
  -------------------------------------------------
  ** Two extra days for account to credit -- (3/9/26)  **
                
   (2338.03*2)+(2451.85*1)+(113.82*2)+(136.47*19) = 9948.48
   (9948.48/24) = Ave Daily Balance = 414.52
   Daily Int = (0.1274/360) = 0.00035388889
   ( 414.52 * 24 days * Daily Int ) = $3.52
   (136.47+3.52) = 139.99 Total

Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation

Household61974 — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 21:56:12 GMT

Need to ensure I'm doing the math right to be able to pay those down to zero.

Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation

Household61974 — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 22:17:34 GMT

Residual interest from 1/17 to 2/17 is calculated and included on the 2/17 statement. If I paid the total balance showing on 2/18, it posted that day and I made no add'l charges, the 3/17 statement would show a $0 balance.

Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation

Household61974 — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 23:00:58 GMT

@Kforce wrote:
My math with a couple of extra days for payment to credit account.
$140, so I believe you would be fine.
I agree with everyone, it is best to overpay by a few dollars, if it is a card you use monthly.

The problem with math like this is when are the payments and charges added. ?
Are you credited when you push the payment or a day or two later.
Same with charges, day it was made or when it posted as complete?
A two day delay in your first payment credit would be $5.17 in interest vs $3.52, with no other
changes.

I used your dates, but easy for a couple dollars in error depending on when they credit events .....
         Date          Amt          Bal    Days     
  -------------------------------------------------
      2026-02-13     -2338.03    -2338.03     0       
      2026-02-15      -113.82    -2451.85     2       
      2026-02-16      2338.03     -113.82     1      
      2026-02-18       -22.65     -136.47     2       
      2026-03-09         0        -136.47    19     
  -------------------------------------------------
  ** Two extra days for account to credit -- (3/9/26)  **
                
   (2338.03*2)+(2451.85*1)+(113.82*2)+(136.47*19) = 9948.48
   (9948.48/24) = Ave Daily Balance = 414.52
   Daily Int = (0.1274/360) = 0.00035388889
   ( 414.52 * 24 days * Daily Int ) = $3.52
   (136.47+3.52) = 139.99 Total
THANK YOU.
Your explanation is precisely why the issuer should provide the amount to bring it to $0.

Again, appreciate the math detail.

Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation

ptatohed — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 23:57:18 GMT

My head is going to explode, lol. Some of the replies to the OP stating he's over-thinking this, I feel, themselves, are over-thinking this. All this AZE0 or AZE1 shenanigans are unnecessary and the OP should simply pay all cards in full and avoid paying any interest. Period.

And please don't continue to make charges on a card that you aren't going to PIF!

GL OP!

Re: Residual / Trailing interest calculation

Household61974 — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 03:05:29 GMT

According to the simulator there's a 10 point difference. Report updates on 4/1. I'll try to remember to report back.

Simulated