Getting cards to report zero balance

[ecxpa]

Is there an easy way to get CC to report zero balance?  If you pay by the due date there is a chance  It will still report a balance if the statement cuts within a day or two.  do creditors report consistently to the CRA's?  So far the only way I have been able to get CC to report a zero balance simultaneously is to not use the cards for a couple of cycles or more, but then if there is no activity, some creditors don't report and leave an old balance on the credit report.   I've tried to research this but haven't found an easy way to get several CC to all report a zero balance.

[parakleet]

You can usually get CCCs to report zero (or whatever other amount) balance by paying it to zero (or whatever other amount) before the statement "end date." Most CCCs report the statement balance so if you're playing the utionization game, the statement date is the most important date for you to know.

[NoAnchoviesPlease]

The other thing to note is that if you didn't PIF last month and you do PIF this month, you'll still get charged some interest. So you may want to overpay a little bit. 

I PIFed my accounts last month and ended up with 3-4 pocket change balances reported, which of course contributed to an AA for "too many accounts carrying a balance" despite the fact that they didn't even add up to $20. 

Overpaying won't hurt your CR. But you may have to use a bank billpay service to do it, since some/most cards won't let you schedule an overpayment on their own sites. 

[BigBS]

---

@NoAnchoviesPlease wrote:

The other thing to note is that if you didn't PIF last month and you do PIF this month, you'll still get charged some interest. So you may want to overpay a little bit. 

I PIFed my accounts last month and ended up with 3-4 pocket change balances reported, which of course contributed to an AA for "too many accounts carrying a balance" despite the fact that they didn't even add up to $20. 

Overpaying won't hurt your CR. But you may have to use a bank billpay service to do it, since some/most cards won't let you schedule an overpayment on their own sites. 

---

Had the same thing happen to me.  Never really thought about 'residual interest' until now.  Next week should be a good week as all credit cards except BoA BBR will report zero balance even though I paid the statement balance 2 months ago.

[NoAnchoviesPlease]

---

@BigBS wrote:

---

@NoAnchoviesPlease wrote:

The other thing to note is that if you didn't PIF last month and you do PIF this month, you'll still get charged some interest. So you may want to overpay a little bit. 

Had the same thing happen to me.  Never really thought about 'residual interest' until now.  Next week should be a good week as all credit cards except BoA BBR will report zero balance even though I paid the statement balance 2 months ago.

---

Yup, same here. I'd just forgotten the term for it earlier.  

The upside to the residual interest is it pushed some of my apps back a bit, which let some 2 year old baddies age a little bit more. We'll see if it aged them enough. 

[Tuxedo77]

Not sure about other lenders, but Discover will do a mid-cycle update if requested through a rep by phone.

[takeshi74]

(nm)

[dave024]

---

@NoAnchoviesPlease wrote:

I PIFed my accounts last month and ended up with 3-4 pocket change balances reported, which of course contributed to an AA for "too many accounts carrying a balance" despite the fact that they didn't even add up to $20. 

---

What creditor took adverse action against you for having $20 in balances? Also what action did they take? I carry thousands of dollars in balances accross several cards and I haven't had any adverse action in well over five years. In fact I am getting CLIs, and pre-approvals for new accounts. I would like to know who I should stay away from.

[DaveSignal]

It should be noted that paying ahead of time (ie: before the statement) is not normal and is a trick to increase FICO score.  You won't get charged interest if you pay the statement balance by the due date every month... thats all you have to do.   If you don't pay every month, it isn't really "residual interest" that you are charged.  You simply lose your grace period by not paying in full by the due date, therefore, interest will be added to all new purchases from the date they post.  Once you PIF by the due date for 2 consecutive months, you now again have a grace period.

[NoAnchoviesPlease]

---

@DaveSignal wrote:

It should be noted that paying ahead of time (ie: before the statement) is not normal and is a trick to increase FICO score.  You won't get charged interest if you pay the statement balance by the due date every month... thats all you have to do.   If you don't pay every month, it isn't really "residual interest" that you are charged.  You simply lose your grace period by not paying in full by the due date, therefore, interest will be added to all new purchases from the date they post.  Once you PIF by the due date for 2 consecutive months, you now again have a grace period.

---

The first time you PIF, assuming you don't always PIF, you get residual interest on the next statement, to my understanding. At least that's what I saw in my case. 

Maybe this is a concern over the term? Is there a better term for it?