Cash back posts after transaction clears or at statement cut?

[Anonymous]

This is something which confuses me a bit. I have multiple different cash back cards, but they all post my cash back at different times. It makes me wonder if I have to carry the balance of any swipes I made in that statement period in order to get the cash back, or if I can make a payment before the statement cuts and still earn the cash back for the full amounts that I charged that month? For example:

Citizens Bank World Mastercard - Cash back earned posts immediately after a transaction clears. No need to wait til the statement cut to see the cash back earned

Discover IT - Cash back earned never shows up until the statement cuts, so it makes me wonder if I have to carry the balance of whatever I charged that month in order to earn the cash back for everything that I charged that month?

Paypal 2% Mastercard - Made a purchase when I got the card, paid off part of it before the statement even cut because I didn't want to have a large balance report. When I checked my account, it showed that they gave me the full cash back amount of the total purchase, not just the balance that I allowed to report at the statement cut. 

So what's the deal? How does this work? Can I make multiple payments throughout a statement period with Discover, for example, and still earn cash back on the total amounts or am I missing out on cash back if I make payments before the statements cuts?

Sorry if this is a dumb question but it just leaves me confused and I hate numbers, haha. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:

So what's the deal? How does this work? Can I make multiple payments throughout a statement period with Discover, for example, and still earn cash back on the total amounts or am I missing out on cash back if I make payments before the statements cuts?

Sorry if this is a dumb question but it just leaves me confused and I hate numbers, haha. 

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Makes absolutely no difference in how many payments you make during the month.  You earn exactly the same cash back if you make 1 or 10 payments.  The cash back is earned per transaction and has nothing to do with payment frequency.

[Anonymous]

Payments just let you accrue more cash back without going over limit.  

[Anonymous]

As said, number of payments doesn't impact total cash back (so long as you don't go into credit, which can impact, e.g. the Double Cash).

In general, there are two schedules used:

1) At statement cut, the issuer determines the cashback due that month, and posts it (possibly shortly after).    This used to be by far the most common, Capital One being a rare exception

2) As each transaction posts, the cashback on that transaction becomes available

Again, neither of these is impacted by number of payments.

Then there are some others:

3) Amex Blue Cash series:  (BC, BCE, BCP): cashback is a month delayed, i.e. it posts on the statement following the statement on which it was earned.   So if your statement date is say 1st, the rewards on purchases made in Jan 2-31 will appear on the March 1st statement, and post a few days after that. 

4) Double Cash:  1% on statement close, 1% on payment, so unless you pay before statement close, the second 1% will be delayed