Getting cards to report zero balance

[NoAnchoviesPlease]

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@dave024 wrote:

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@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. 

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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.

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AA may have been the wrong term, but I had a CLI declined by BofA specifying lates from 2 years ago as well as "too many accounts with balances." The decline specified the FICO score and such so I figured it was an AA. 

I realize that the reasons given aren't always equal or even precise. I know that the lates 2 years ago are more likely to be higher in their consideration than a few sub-$20 balances. Just saying that if you're heading into a case where someone may look not-so-closely (i.e. automatically) and see the number of accounts with balances, it can be worth compensating for the last month's interest. 

[xerostatus]

There seems to be a bit of confusion here, with the original question at hand being how to get cards to report zero, and then someone also mentioned residual interest, etc. These are two entirely separate issues altogether.

To simplify the concept, there are 4 main things that you ought to be concerned with: Current Balance, Statement Balance, Payment Due Date, and Statement Cut Date.

If you want to PIF to avoid paying interest each month, it's simple: Pay the full sum of the Statement Balance before the Payment Due Date. However, your statement balance each month WILL in fact be reported. (i.e. will not accomplish 0% util). But, insofar as interest goes, as long as you do pay your full statement balance before your payment due date, then you will not be charged any interest.

If you want to PIF to both avoid paying interest AND cut a 0 balance (i.e. 0% util), then you have to pay the entire sum of your CURRENT balance (which would be your posted charges + your statement balance - any payments you made prior) before the statement cut date. 

You will notice, that if you cycle through each month by paying-in-full before statement cut date, that your "statement balance" will perpetually be zero, and you will also see that your "minimum payment due" will also be perpetually zero, since you're paying in full even before the statement cuts.

[DaveSignal]

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@NoAnchoviesPlease wrote:

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. 

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Well, you are being charged interest for each day that the unpaid balance continues past the statement date... this is not billed until the next statement.

But you are also being charged interest on all new purchases from the day that they post until the next statement.  

When you pay the next statment in full, you reinstate your grace period and will no longer be charged interest for new purchases.

[black_citi]

Ok I am a little confused lol. I want my cc balance to report zero as well and this thread brings up a great question.

I have 3 cards. Only one has a balance. The highest balance on my card was $492. I had to pay at least the minimum ($25) by may 15. I paid $392 on april 23 and left $100 on there. The card is Citi diamond and has a $1000 CL with 0% interest for 12 months (I have 8 months left).

I can pay that $100 on may 7, 8 days before the due date. At that point the card will have a zero balance. But I am wondering, when I gave the 392 on april 23 did Citi report that? When I give that 100 dollars on the 7th will they report it as zero or $100 since I paid that $392 first and they only report once per statement period?

[DaveSignal]

Whatever your current balance is at the time that the billing period ends and the statement is issued is the balance that is reported to the CRAs (for most lenders).

[ecxpa]

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@NoAnchoviesPlease wrote:

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@dave024 wrote:

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@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. 

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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.

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AA may have been the wrong term, but I had a CLI declined by BofA specifying lates from 2 years ago as well as "too many accounts with balances." The decline specified the FICO score and such so I figured it was an AA. 

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I plan to apply for the AMEX Everyday in a few months and this is exactly what I am trying to prevent......".too many accounts with balances" and I have been denied credit for the same thing; what I would call trivial balances.   No matter how small THEY WILL HURT YOU when applying for new credit.   I'm not  trying to manipulate credit score or anything but facts are facts.  I don't even mind paying  a little interest from time to time for large purchases but I hate to PIF and because of the lenders time they report to the credit agency find that the card is still showing a balance because of charges that were made into the next cycle.  

[thelethargicage]

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@ecxpa wrote:

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.

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Pay them off before the statement closes, but to be completely sure they'll report a 0 balance, take a look at your CRs. Specifically, take a look at the latest date the account was reported. I say this because some issuers (Suntrust and US Bank, for example) will report whatever balance is on the account on the last (business) day of the month instead of the day the statement actually closes.

[TRC_WA]

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@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. 

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Same here... Got that same excuse on a recent CLI request even though said balances across all cards in question was less than $10... That's what I get for making small purchases so a statement is generated and I get another monthly payment added to my history.

Also learned GECRB will not generate a statement if you have a $0 balance.

[DaveSignal]

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@TRC_WA wrote:

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@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. 

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Same here... Got that same excuse on a recent CLI request even though said balances across all cards in question was less than $10... That's what I get for making small purchases so a statement is generated and I get another monthly payment added to my history.

Also learned GECRB will not generate a statement if you have a $0 balance.

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I don't currently have any GECRB cards, but I bet a statement would generate if you charged something during the month and then paid it before the statement.  They probably just don't issue a statement when there is no activity at all.

[ecxpa]

In the end it seems that getting credit cards synchronized to the ideal scenario which is have all but one CC report a zero balance will take some time and work.  I see it may take several mos actually.  Anyway, I plan to start now to see how long it will actually take to achieve this.   As has been said if some lenders report the last statement balance and there is no activity to report it is conceivable that that last statement balance could report indefinitely even though the card may have a zero balance.  So if this happens to me I guess I will just have to file a dispute to get it corrected.    On the surface it seems it would be relatively easy to get all but one credit card to report a balance but as we see from the conversation here it is not so easy. 

Some may call it manipulating the system but a system that allows dings for small balances on multiple cards needs to be fixed or it HAS to be manipulated.  I know I will probably lose some reward points/cash back  but I will probably use only one credit card over the next 3-6 mos.  I am going to continue to research this and will contact my lenders to see it they will tell me when they report to the CRA's and those who do not report if there is no activity on the accounts.