topic Re: I don't understand?? in Credit Cards

I don't understand??

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 21:26:58 GMT

Hi all! So on my BankAmerica Cash Rewards Credit Card that I've only had for a few weeks now that I got to start building credit, it shows online, "Due on: 07/02/14"...... HOWEVER, it says that my next closing date is 07/03/2014?

Doesn't usually the statement close before the due date? I spoke with a personal banker at BoA and she said to pay a day before the due date (so they can't attack me with late payments, etc) and to keep my credit uitlization below 30%, which I have been doing.

I am asking when would the best time to pay my credit card balance to help boost my credit score? I'm confused on the whole due date being before the closing statement date..... Aren't you supposed to let your balance report to the three credit agencies when the statement ends to at least show you are using your card? How would I be able to do that if I have to pay it off before it can even report?

Thank you all very much for the help!!

Re: I don't understand??

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 21:31:57 GMT

The payment for the previous month is due on the first date, the statement for the current month closes on the second date. YOu will then have a few weeks to pay the amount due on the statement that closes 7/3

Re: I don't understand??

Bman70 — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 21:44:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi all! So on my BankAmerica Cash Rewards Credit Card that I've only had for a few weeks now that I got to start building credit, it shows online, "Due on: 07/02/14"...... HOWEVER, it says that my next closing date is 07/03/2014?

Doesn't usually the statement close before the due date? I spoke with a personal banker at BoA and she said to pay a day before the due date (so they can't attack me with late payments, etc) and to keep my credit uitlization below 30%, which I have been doing.

I am asking when would the best time to pay my credit card balance to help boost my credit score? I'm confused on the whole due date being before the closing statement date..... Aren't you supposed to let your balance report to the three credit agencies when the statement ends to at least show you are using your card? How would I be able to do that if I have to pay it off before it can even report?

Thank you all very much for the help!!

No because they want to see if you paid the minimum/balance before they cut the statement... That way they know whether to charge you interest or not on the statement.

Re: I don't understand??

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 21:52:06 GMT

This is the first payment I will make on my card, seeing that I've had it for just a few weeks now. I just need someone like you guys who are skilled at this stuff to help me and tell me when you would pay if you were in my situation.

Re: I don't understand??

Bman70 — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 21:58:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
This is the first payment I will make on my card, seeing that I've had it for just a few weeks now. I just need someone like you guys who are skilled at this stuff to help me and tell me when you would pay if you were in my situation.

If you're building your score, I would pay at least the minimum due (of course), but not all of it. Let about 5-10% utilization remain so the statement will cut with that and report it to the bureaus.

To find out what 5% util would be, do this calculation: credit limit times .05. That will tell you how much to leave on there for 5 percent. If you want to report 10 percent, do credit limit times .1. Just in case you didn't already know that

Re: I don't understand??

coldnmn — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 22:07:51 GMT

Next time you should have the statement closing date and then the grace period before your due date. So your statement closing date is the third for next statement so you should have about 25 days grace before your next payment is due. The payment due on the second everything was crunched down because your account was so new. So your current payment is due the second. It will straighten out once your account is established.

Re: I don't understand??

gh17 — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 23:05:57 GMT

It's probably just confusing because it's the first month. Most likely you don't even have anything due yet if you don't have a statement yet. What's it say your minimum payment is? I'd guess 0, since you haven't received a statement yet. If you have received a statement, pay the full amount on the statement before the due date.

The statement on the 3rd will have a later due date. This upcoming due date is either for a statement you received in the past or is just a "due date" for $0 for a statement you never got.

Just make sure you avoid any interest by paying off the balance on your last statement (if you had a statement) in full. Otherwise pay it down to <10% of your limit before the next statement generation, and then pay that in full by the following due date.

Re: I don't understand??

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 01:30:42 GMT

Okay, so you are saying that since my Bank America Cash Rewards card currently holds a balance of $220.93 and I was approved with a $700 CL, I should pay $198 on the due date which is on the 2nd, then pay the rest (10%) off on the evening of the 3rd whenever my statement ends? I dont have any interest until a year, but i still dont want it to show up that im not paying my bills on time.

I'm sorry, haha. I know I am probably making this more complicated.

Re: I don't understand??

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 01:38:16 GMT

If this may help provide any additional information, this is what is posted whenever I go under my account summary online:

Account Summary

Current balance:

$213.38

Total credit available:

$478.08

Cash credit line available:

$200.00

Rewards

Total Cash Rewards: 0.00 Cash Rewards

Card Details

Total credit line:

$700.00

Cash credit line:

$200.00

Amount over total credit line:

$0.00

Next closing date:

07/03/2014

Last payment date:

Last payment:

$0.00

Re: I don't understand??

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 01:39:27 GMT

Re: I don't understand??

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 01:50:25 GMT

ACCOUNT SUMMARY:

Current balance:

$213.38

Total credit available:

$478.08

Cash credit line available:

$200.00

Total Cash Rewards: 0.00 Cash Rewards

CARD DETAILS:

Total credit line:

$700.00

Cash credit line:

$200.00

Amount over total credit line:

$0.00

Next closing date:

07/03/2014

Last payment date:

Last payment:

$0.00

Re: I don't understand??

coldnmn — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 01:59:17 GMT

This is just an example say you have 90% utilization on your credit card. Your statement closes the 5th of the month so the 2nd or third you would want to pay it down to 1% to 9% utilization so that payment posts when statement closes for best credit scoring on your credit score. If the payment is due the 30th you would want to pay statement balance by due date to avoid interest. Current balance is also listed that includes new charges added after statement closed. The new charges can be paid on the next statement. That is why you pay statement balance unless you want to pay the total current balance.

Re: I don't understand??

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 02:05:14 GMT

I see what you are saying, I believe!

So I am going to pay my full balance of $213.38 on my due date on July 2. Let's say I go ahead and do that and then immediately go out and buy like $10-$15 dollars in gasoline or food so that the next day when the statement closes (July 3), it will still show that there is that utilization percent on the card?

Re: I don't understand??

DieGo2SHAE — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 02:06:49 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Okay, so you are saying that since my Bank America Cash Rewards card currently holds a balance of $220.93 and I was approved with a $700 CL, I should pay $198 on the due date which is on the 2nd, then pay the rest (10%) off on the evening of the 3rd whenever my statement ends? I dont have any interest until a year, but i still dont want it to show up that im not paying my bills on time.

I'm sorry, haha. I know I am probably making this more complicated.

You've got it all correct! Just if you pay that much, you'll actually be at ~3% since $22.93 (what your remaining balance would be if you paid $198) of $700 is 3.27%. To get exactly 5% (I post between 5% and 8%, I've found that's ideal), you'd want to pay $185.93 to leave a balance of $35.

Though you don't have to wait until the day before the due date either, you can pay whenever you want and I would advise that you do since payments can sometimes take a couple days to process. Just be sure to pay off the remaning $35 (or whatever you go with) as soon as the statement cuts and you're all set =]

Re: I don't understand??

DieGo2SHAE — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 02:10:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I see what you are saying, I believe!

So I am going to pay my full balance of $213.38 on my due date on July 2. Let's say I go ahead and do that and then immediately go out and buy like $10-$15 dollars in gasoline or food so that the next day when the statement closes (July 3), it will still show that there is that utilization percent on the card?

If you wait until the due date to pay, then odds are good the payment won't process in time and you'll post the entire balance. And if you are going to depend on purchases made the day before the statement closing date to post a balance, they absolutely will not post to your balance in time (they'll just be pending charges) and no utilization will report.

Re: I don't understand??

Bman70 — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 02:45:48 GMT

Yeah as Diego said, give yourself more time for charges and payments to post.. With BofA, several days in my experience.

So, pay everything but $35 now or several days before the due date. Then let the statement post (usually the day after it says it will).

Then you'll have reported 5% util, and can either pay the rest of the $35 off or leave it and charge more, repeating the cycle next time.

Re: I don't understand??

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 03:38:04 GMT

Alright, so July 2 passed and I paid $219.83 of my $236.32 balance on my $700 credit limit card before the statement cut, leaving it to report at least some percent of utilization to the bureaus (2.5% of 700, but going to try to make around 5% next payment). I still have questions in the back of my mind that are worrying me, for some odd reason.

Since I didn't pay my balance in full on my due date and let a small percent roll over the statement closing date, this won't report as a "late payment" on my credit reports in the future, right? The cool thing with my BankAmericard is that I don't have any interest for one year, but I still don't want it to show up as "late!" :/

Is it smart to go ahead and pay off my $16.49 statement balance now that it is closed and has reported? Or should I just worry about it next payment and pay it off then, along with leaving a small percent to report?

Thank you all for being there and helping this newbie here! I'm definitely going to look back and say thanks to each of you guys, I have great credit!

Re: I don't understand??

OHWWCB — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 04:24:27 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Alright, so July 2 passed and I paid $219.83 of my $236.32 balance on my $700 credit limit card before the statement cut, leaving it to report at least some percent of utilization to the bureaus (2.5% of 700, but going to try to make around 5% next payment). I still have questions in the back of my mind that are worrying me, for some odd reason.

Since I didn't pay my balance in full on my due date and let a small percent roll over the statement closing date, this won't report as a "late payment" on my credit reports in the future, right? The cool thing with my BankAmericard is that I don't have any interest for one year, but I still don't want it to show up as "late!" :/

Is it smart to go ahead and pay off my $16.49 statement balance now that it is closed and has reported? Or should I just worry about it next payment and pay it off then, along with leaving a small percent to report?

Thank you all for being there and helping this newbie here! I'm definitely going to look back and say thanks to each of you guys, I have great credit!

You made a payment on time so your payment won't show up as later so you have nothing to worry about. You can pay off the rest of the balance or just carry it over to next month repeating the same cycle, leaving 5% utilization. As long as you make at least the minimum payment each month you won't have a late payment so you don't need to worry about that.

Re: I don't understand??

takeshi74 — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 04:45:59 GMT

@Bman70 wrote:
No because they want to see if you paid the minimum/balance before they cut the statement..

Incorrect. Statement always closes before the due date. Bills can't be generated for an open statement.

@Anonymous wrote:
Since I didn't pay my balance in full on my due date and let a small percent roll over the statement closing date, this won't report as a "late payment" on my credit reports in the future, right?

Right. You only need to make the minimum payment by the due date to keep your account current. To avoid paying interest pay in full by the due date.

Re: I don't understand??

Bman70 — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 05:28:29 GMT

@takeshi74 wrote:
@Bman70 wrote:
No because they want to see if you paid the minimum/balance before they cut the statement..
Incorrect. Statement always closes before the due date. Bills can't be generated for an open statement.

My BofA "payment due date" is 7/5/2014. The "next closing date" is 7/9/2014. Hence, due date before closing. Maybe you're referring to the previous statement, I'm referring to the next one. I wouldn't assume OP's payment due on 7/2 was generated by the 7/3 statement. Although anything's possible. OP, did your 7/3 statement generate a new due date, perhaps 8/2?