CC Payment Question..

[fishbjc]

I use GM card to pay households.  It's due about the 16th of the month.  So, if I PIF on the 8th of the month, is that good enough to get this reflecting as 0 with CRA?

[Anonymous]

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fishbjc wrote:

I use GM card to pay households.  It's due about the 16th of the month.  So, if I PIF on the 8th of the month, is that good enough to get this reflecting as 0 with CRA?

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Yep, as long as you make sure you don't use it again before the cycle date.

Best option for playing the "FICO balance reporting game" is to pay at least the minimum as soon as you can after the statement cuts, then pay it down to your "reporting target" 5-7 days before the statement generates on the statement date.

The due date is only important for making sure your payments are on time and for PIFfing to avoid finance charges.  The statement date is what's important for FICO reporting purposes.

[MidnightVoice]

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fishbjc wrote:

I use GM card to pay households.  It's due about the 16th of the month.  So, if I PIF on the 8th of the month, is that good enough to get this reflecting as 0 with CRA?

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When do the households go out?

I have watched my on line bill pay and the CC on line so I know how many days it takes to hit, but weekends can screw it up!

[fishbjc]

Since DH is paid the 2nd Friday of every month, I have them paid on that date thru online billpayment.

Statement date was 1/22, due date 2/16

Message Edited by fishbjc on 02-05-2008 10:31 AM

[RobertEG]

Begging to differ from the responses of my other esteemed FICO-holics, my answer would be no, just paying in full the last statement balance plus any charges made since then will NOT ensure a full PIF even if  you dont make any further charges after you pay the current account balance and pay all that in full before the next statement post..  The rub is that if you charged anything since your last statement date, then the CCC will charge you daily interest at the daily rate of annual APR/365, per day, on each day's outstanding balance since your last statement date, so just paying the last statement balance in full, plus any charges made since the last statement date, does not take into account the daily interest due on any daily balance since the last statment date.  If you want a full PIF, you must also take into account the daily interest being asessed for any balance that exists  since your last statement date, which posts nowhere on your statement until the next statement posts, and will thus be too late to ensure any assured PIF.  If you dont track daily interest acccrued on your specific daily balances since the last statement date, and also pay that, then your statements wont show you that, and thus what you mightt think is a PIF may be a few bucks short.

Message Edited by RobertEG on 02-05-2008 10:56 AM

Message Edited by RobertEG on 02-05-2008 10:58 AM

Message Edited by RobertEG on 02-05-2008 11:01 AM

[MidnightVoice]

RobertEG wrote:

Begging to differ from the responses of my other esteemed FICO-holics, my answer would be no, just paying in full the last statement balance plus any charges made since then will NOT ensure a full PIF even if  you dont make any further charges after you pay the current account balance and pay all that in full before the next statement post..  The rub is that if you charged anything since your last statement date, then the CCC will charge you daily interest at the daily rate of annual APR/365, per day, on each day's outstanding balance since your last statement date, so just paying the last statement balance in full, plus any charges made since the last statement date, does not take into account the daily interest due on any daily balance since the last statment date.  If you want a full PIF, you must also take into account the daily interest being asessed for any balance that exists  since your last statement date, which posts nowhere on your statement until the next statement posts, and will thus be too late to ensure any assured PIF.  If you dont track daily interest acccrued on your specific daily balances since the last statement date, and also pay that, then your statements wont show you that, and thus what you mightt think is a PIF may be a few bucks short.

I was assunming the OP was not carrying a balance on a card that was being used for standard monthly expenses.  If there is no balance, then PIF before the statement date works.