topic Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question in Credit Cards

Negative Statement Balance - Question

s_haliz — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 19:48:02 GMT

Need advice. My statement balace would be -900.00. That means I have a credit balance with the credit card company for the amount of $900.00. Due to a refund of a large ticket item and paying my past statement balance in full, this situation happened. My credit limit on this particular card is $20,000.00

Question to you all:

Does this negative statement balance on this credit card would affect my credit score negatively? I know we all strive for 10% utilization (or lower) and in some case no balance at all ($0.00 statement balance). In this situation it is $900.00 below $0.00 balance. Since utilzation can not be less than zero, would credit beaureaus count this as 0% utilization?

Please express your opinion. Thank you in advance.

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

waters — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 19:49:19 GMT

It will show up as 0 balance.

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

FinStar — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 19:54:20 GMT

@waters wrote:
It will show up as 0 balance.

Negative/Credit balance conditions are not reported, just a 0 balance.

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

CreditMagic7 — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 20:00:01 GMT

It's fine. Happens a lot. When i do that i eventually run enough spend to catch it up. I have had mailed checks from lenders though if it stays that way too long. Depends on the lender.

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

s_haliz — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 20:40:57 GMT

Thank you for the responses. Now that it is confirmed that it would be reported as a $0.00 balance, would it be the best for boosting your score or some balance (let say 3% or $600.00) would help boost your score? With this zero balance my overall utilization across all cards would be (total utilization) less than 1%.

How would a lender see this situation when you apply for new credit card? I know it depends on many other factors too.

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

s_haliz — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 13:16:36 GMT

One of the other question comes to my mind is:

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

dilettante — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:29:31 GMT

@s_haliz wrote:
One of the other question comes to my mind is:

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?

Experian is one CB that reports monthly minimum due as well as amount of payment made. So on that report at least, they would be able to see that a certain catd is being used.

Are you trying to get your reports ready for a specific lender that you want a card from? Or are you after a specific CL, CLI?

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

s_haliz — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 16:52:23 GMT

@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
One of the other question comes to my mind is:

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?
Experian is one CB that reports monthly minimum due as well as amount of payment made. So on that report at least, they would be able to see that a certain catd is being used.

Are you trying to get your reports ready for a specific lender that you want a card from? Or are you after a specific CL, CLI?

When the statememt balance is $0.00, the minimum payment due would be $0.00 as well. Now not sure if that would give a hint to lender that this card was used.

Anyone else have a comment on this?

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

dilettante — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 17:12:46 GMT

@s_haliz wrote:
@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
One of the other question comes to my mind is:

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?
Experian is one CB that reports monthly minimum due as well as amount of payment made. So on that report at least, they would be able to see that a certain catd is being used.

Are you trying to get your reports ready for a specific lender that you want a card from? Or are you after a specific CL, CLI?
When the statememt balance is $0.00, the minimum payment due would be $0.00 as well. Now not sure if that would give a hint to lender that this card was used.

Anyone else have a comment on this?

Actually, if you look at a report from Experian, on each account, it lists in the balance history section for each account: "account balance/date payment received/scheduled payment amount/actual amount paid". That what I was referring to because on my reports, though it states that it's a $0 balance, it shows how much $ i paid. I'm sure anyone looking at the report could deduce that that the card is being used.

The reports also always list highest balance on the card so at least they will know how much you've charged on that card before. For example, I just opened a Barclay Arrival card last month. I charged $17k on the card the first day and a bit more but paid it off before the statement cut. The statement was for $0 but when I look at my CB report, the high balance showed on the report as $18k and my limit as 20k.

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

s_haliz — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:46:26 GMT

@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
One of the other question comes to my mind is:

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?
Experian is one CB that reports monthly minimum due as well as amount of payment made. So on that report at least, they would be able to see that a certain catd is being used.

Are you trying to get your reports ready for a specific lender that you want a card from? Or are you after a specific CL, CLI?
When the statememt balance is $0.00, the minimum payment due would be $0.00 as well. Now not sure if that would give a hint to lender that this card was used.

Anyone else have a comment on this?
Actually, if you look at a report from Experian, on each account, it lists in the balance history section for each account: "account balance/date payment received/scheduled payment amount/actual amount paid". That what I was referring to because on my reports, though it states that it's a $0 balance, it shows how much $ i paid. I'm sure anyone looking at the report could deduce that that the card is being used.

The reports also always list highest balance on the card so at least they will know how much you've charged on that card before. For example, I just opened a Barclay Arrival card last month. I charged $17k on the card the first day and a bit more but paid it off before the statement cut. The statement was for $0 but when I look at my CB report, the high balance showed on the report as $18k and my limit as 20k.

In my Experian report, all I can see by month is: Statement Balance/Minimum Payment". It is not saying anything else. It shows high limit of course. It also going to show "OK" on each month which is interpreted as 'Paid as Agree"...Meaning you might have paid in full your balance before due date or just the minimum payment or in-between.

I am fully agree with your second paragraph. I know all CBs are now reporting the high balance (say if my statement balance is $500 but if I had used another $1,200 the following month and that's day CC chose to report to CB, my high balance would be $1,700). And if my previous high balance is say $2,950, this $1,700 would be suppressed by $2,950. Meaning my high balance would still be $2,950...That shows what is the highest I had ever charged to my credit card.

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

dilettante — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 19:34:08 GMT

@s_haliz wrote:
@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
One of the other question comes to my mind is:

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?
Experian is one CB that reports monthly minimum due as well as amount of payment made. So on that report at least, they would be able to see that a certain catd is being used.

Are you trying to get your reports ready for a specific lender that you want a card from? Or are you after a specific CL, CLI?
When the statememt balance is $0.00, the minimum payment due would be $0.00 as well. Now not sure if that would give a hint to lender that this card was used.

Anyone else have a comment on this?
Actually, if you look at a report from Experian, on each account, it lists in the balance history section for each account: "account balance/date payment received/scheduled payment amount/actual amount paid". That what I was referring to because on my reports, though it states that it's a $0 balance, it shows how much $ i paid. I'm sure anyone looking at the report could deduce that that the card is being used.

The reports also always list highest balance on the card so at least they will know how much you've charged on that card before. For example, I just opened a Barclay Arrival card last month. I charged $17k on the card the first day and a bit more but paid it off before the statement cut. The statement was for $0 but when I look at my CB report, the high balance showed on the report as $18k and my limit as 20k.
In my Experian report, all I can see by month is: Statement Balance/Minimum Payment". It is not saying anything else. It shows high limit of course. It also going to show "OK" on each month which is interpreted as 'Paid as Agree"...Meaning you might have paid in full your balance before due date or just the minimum payment or in-between.

I am fully agree with your second paragraph. I know all CBs are now reporting the high balance (say if my statement balance is $500 but if I had used another $1,200 the following month and that's day CC chose to report to CB, my high balance would be $1,700). And if my previous high balance is say $2,950, this $1,700 would be suppressed by $2,950. Meaning my high balance would still be $2,950...That shows what is the highest I had ever charged to my credit card.

Is your report directly from Experian? I check my report from the Experian site about once every couple of weeks and it always shows payment history for the past 2 years or however long I've had the card. It also gives a history of your credit limit so if you get a CLI, it will show on the report, the increases and when the change occurred.

Anyway, from your past successes and your scores, I really think you probably will get whatever you want and you don't need to overthink it too much. Plus, you're assuming your apps are going to be manually reviewed to have all those details to be of importance. I've been approved for many cards this past year and a half with pretty good limits and my scores have fluctuated between 770-820 on all CB's, with anywhere from 1% - 37% utilization and just until recently, they have all been instant approvals.

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

s_haliz — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 17:48:50 GMT

@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
One of the other question comes to my mind is:

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?
Experian is one CB that reports monthly minimum due as well as amount of payment made. So on that report at least, they would be able to see that a certain catd is being used.

Are you trying to get your reports ready for a specific lender that you want a card from? Or are you after a specific CL, CLI?
When the statememt balance is $0.00, the minimum payment due would be $0.00 as well. Now not sure if that would give a hint to lender that this card was used.

Anyone else have a comment on this?
Actually, if you look at a report from Experian, on each account, it lists in the balance history section for each account: "account balance/date payment received/scheduled payment amount/actual amount paid". That what I was referring to because on my reports, though it states that it's a $0 balance, it shows how much $ i paid. I'm sure anyone looking at the report could deduce that that the card is being used.

The reports also always list highest balance on the card so at least they will know how much you've charged on that card before. For example, I just opened a Barclay Arrival card last month. I charged $17k on the card the first day and a bit more but paid it off before the statement cut. The statement was for $0 but when I look at my CB report, the high balance showed on the report as $18k and my limit as 20k.
In my Experian report, all I can see by month is: Statement Balance/Minimum Payment". It is not saying anything else. It shows high limit of course. It also going to show "OK" on each month which is interpreted as 'Paid as Agree"...Meaning you might have paid in full your balance before due date or just the minimum payment or in-between.

I am fully agree with your second paragraph. I know all CBs are now reporting the high balance (say if my statement balance is $500 but if I had used another $1,200 the following month and that's day CC chose to report to CB, my high balance would be $1,700). And if my previous high balance is say $2,950, this $1,700 would be suppressed by $2,950. Meaning my high balance would still be $2,950...That shows what is the highest I had ever charged to my credit card.

Is your report directly from Experian? I check my report from the Experian site about once every couple of weeks and it always shows payment history for the past 2 years or however long I've had the card. It also gives a history of your credit limit so if you get a CLI, it will show on the report, the increases and when the change occurred.

Anyway, from your past successes and your scores, I really think you probably will get whatever you want and you don't need to overthink it too much. Plus, you're assuming your apps are going to be manually reviewed to have all those details to be of importance. I've been approved for many cards this past year and a half with pretty good limits and my scores have fluctuated between 770-820 on all CB's, with anywhere from 1% - 37% utilization and just until recently, they have all been instant approvals.

Thank You. Yes it is from Experian directly but through once a year free credit report site by government.

The thing is in today's world even the best record person sometimes won't get what they want. I am sure we both have seen situations here in this forum itself. Currently I am in a process of my overall utilization no more than 1%. And individaul card no more than 3%. I know this is extreme but I am sure it would help and perhaps impress new credit grantor. You have also got very impressive score.

Re: Negative Statement Balance - Question

dilettante — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 18:27:13 GMT

@s_haliz wrote:
@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
@dilettante wrote:
@s_haliz wrote:
One of the other question comes to my mind is:

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?
Experian is one CB that reports monthly minimum due as well as amount of payment made. So on that report at least, they would be able to see that a certain catd is being used.

Are you trying to get your reports ready for a specific lender that you want a card from? Or are you after a specific CL, CLI?
When the statememt balance is $0.00, the minimum payment due would be $0.00 as well. Now not sure if that would give a hint to lender that this card was used.

Anyone else have a comment on this?
Actually, if you look at a report from Experian, on each account, it lists in the balance history section for each account: "account balance/date payment received/scheduled payment amount/actual amount paid". That what I was referring to because on my reports, though it states that it's a $0 balance, it shows how much $ i paid. I'm sure anyone looking at the report could deduce that that the card is being used.

The reports also always list highest balance on the card so at least they will know how much you've charged on that card before. For example, I just opened a Barclay Arrival card last month. I charged $17k on the card the first day and a bit more but paid it off before the statement cut. The statement was for $0 but when I look at my CB report, the high balance showed on the report as $18k and my limit as 20k.
In my Experian report, all I can see by month is: Statement Balance/Minimum Payment". It is not saying anything else. It shows high limit of course. It also going to show "OK" on each month which is interpreted as 'Paid as Agree"...Meaning you might have paid in full your balance before due date or just the minimum payment or in-between.

I am fully agree with your second paragraph. I know all CBs are now reporting the high balance (say if my statement balance is $500 but if I had used another $1,200 the following month and that's day CC chose to report to CB, my high balance would be $1,700). And if my previous high balance is say $2,950, this $1,700 would be suppressed by $2,950. Meaning my high balance would still be $2,950...That shows what is the highest I had ever charged to my credit card.

Is your report directly from Experian? I check my report from the Experian site about once every couple of weeks and it always shows payment history for the past 2 years or however long I've had the card. It also gives a history of your credit limit so if you get a CLI, it will show on the report, the increases and when the change occurred.

Anyway, from your past successes and your scores, I really think you probably will get whatever you want and you don't need to overthink it too much. Plus, you're assuming your apps are going to be manually reviewed to have all those details to be of importance. I've been approved for many cards this past year and a half with pretty good limits and my scores have fluctuated between 770-820 on all CB's, with anywhere from 1% - 37% utilization and just until recently, they have all been instant approvals.
Thank You. Yes it is from Experian directly but through once a year free credit report site by government.

The thing is in today's world even the best record person sometimes won't get what they want. I am sure we both have seen situations here in this forum itself. Currently I am in a process of my overall utilization no more than 1%. And individaul card no more than 3%. I know this is extreme but I am sure it would help and perhaps impress new credit grantor. You have also got very impressive score.

So interesting that we see different things from Experian. I use my free annual report number to take a look once in awhile at my report online until the report number no longer works. I think last time it was almost for a year.

Anyway, whatever you're doing or however you're doing it, you seem to be doing a great job with your credit. So the best of luck to what you're seeking.

As for me, I've been just doing basic things such as PIF on time, staying out of debt, etc. so that's helped keep my scores high for awhile. Plus i have a personal CC that doesn't report to the bureaus that I can put the chunk of my spend on monthly and not worry about very high utilization #'s if I app. So now I am enjoying the ability to just have fun maximizing points, travel bonuses and perks with credit cards.