Transactions take too long to post!

[Anonymous]

I make weekly personal and business purchases of $8k-$12k, but noticed it takes transactions between 4-7 days to post. Is that normal? I prefer to bring my balance down before my statements cut to show very little utilization. For that reason, I have to stop spending a week before my statements cut to let the transactions post and then pay down balance. This is very inconvenient. If I make a mistake of making a large purchase within the last week before the statement cuts, it doesn't post until after the statement cuts, which then shows a higher utilization. Is there any way around this?

[simplynoir]

With what issuer?

[Anonymous]

Stop pulling payments using the creditor's website and start pushing payments from your checking account website.

I regularly will throw a $2000 charge on a $2500 limit card that may take anywhere from 3-5 days to post, but then a day or two later I'll push $2000 from my checking account to the credit card.  Never have an issue with the payment taking longer than a business day to post.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to clarify that the purchase transactions are taking too long to post, not the payments I'm making.

Currently Discover is heavy in my rotation because it's my first year. I recently got the Chase FU and Cap1 Spark.

[Kforce]

Most of my creditors have a 3 day pending time window, except at statement posting date.

They speed up the pending charges by a day or two having them post on statement early.

The best way to control utility is to "Push" money from your Bank or CU  "Billpay Service" about

five days prior to the statement cut date. Push enough to cover all pending and expected

weeks spend. This guarantee's a zero balance reporting.

[MakingProgress]

You don't need to wait for the purchase to post to the account to make your payment.   As others have said push the payment from your online bill pay.   Your credit card will post your payment and it may create a credit balance, but it will zero out when the purchase posts. 

I recently went on a vacation and wanted to make sure that my card was at zero for the trip, but I knew I had a small recurring charge that would post the day I was leaving.   So I paid my balance + the amount of that recurring charge.   On the day I left I had a credit balance, but once that charge posted I had a zero balance.   I didn't acutally use that card on the trip, but I wanted the entire CL available to me if I wanted to use it.

[Anonymous]

This is conjecture on my part because I've never actually timed it, but I feel like changes take longer to post on my discover & chase cards compared to other lenders. Maybe I'm mistaken but discover in particular feels like it averages 5 days before something goes from pending to posted. Next time I use it I'll make a note to time it

[Anonymous]

I was talking with a friend at a meeting the other day about folks who hound you about not having cashed checks promptly upon receipt. He is treasurer for our union, and as he points out, if you keep your records correctly, then that money is already gone once you write the check. There is no need to worry about it any more. 

I point this out just to say that if you are keeping your own records and not relying solely on your banks or cc's statement page, you will not have this issue. Use a budget program or spreadsheet. It can be as simple or complicated as pleases you. Or just use one of those old-fashioned checkbook registers; I have a friend who asks for mine and still uses them to keep balanced, and it works for her. 

As others point out, make payments based on your own record of purchases and when the cc tells you a payment is due (obviously you will need to reconcile your statement with your own records). But don't worry if a payment hasn't posted immediately. It happens to me too. It still "counts" as spent money as far as you and I are concerned, and that's all that matters. 

[Kforce]

You need to start counting days from when it first post as pending

at the Bank/CU. When you buy items on line the company you purchase

from will usually hold charging your card until the item ships.

This can add many day's from time that you push the "Buy" button.

[Anonymous]

I completely understand, I too stop spending a week before the statment cuts to make sure nothing posts out of my control. hahah

It is a very long process to make transactions happen in the first place. But some of the slowest from my own experience is Capital One and Citi. And Citi will not let you make a payment if that current balance is $0 (regardless of what is pending) so if you mess up and have a charge 2 days before the statment cuts well kiss that goodbye.