Utilization and reporting, newbie here

[ukrboy30]

Hi everyone, newbie here. So i have Cap One secured, BoA secured and US bank. All with 300 cl.

Question about utilization and reporting dates because i think thats what confuses the most.

So my Cap One due date is 12/09/13, statement gets posted on the 12th of every month. Does it mean that on either 10th or 11th i should have small balance so that only 1-9% gets reported on 12th?

Second card, BoA states that Next closing date: 12/16/2013. Is this a due date when i have to pay the belance so no interest is applied? When BoA reports for you?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Credit cards have a closing or statement date, that ends a particular monthly statement period.

The balance on the statement date is typically what is reported to a credit bureau.  If you want to control the reported balance, then you pay all or part of it before the statement date.

Then the amount for that period is typically due 20-25 days after the statement date.  An amount that is not paid within the 20-25 days will start to accrue interest.

[coldnmn]

Welcome to the forum. I will add the closing date is when that statement period ends and the new statement starts. If you want no or <9% showing you should have it paid by that date. after statement cuts if it has a grace period no interest is charged unless a balance was carried over from previous month.

[takeshi74]

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@ukrboy30 wrote:

Second card, BoA states that Next closing date: 12/16/2013. Is this a due date when i have to pay the belance so no interest is applied? 

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No -- that's the close date.   Close date and payment due date are two different things as described above.

[ukrboy30]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Since Cap One's due date is 9th of every month and statements gets posted on 12th, does this mean that i have to leave balance equal to 1-9% util. on the 10th or 11th?

[Gatortrout]

If you want the card to report $0 or $200 or whatever it may be just make sure you have paid a day or 2 before your statement cuts which in your case is the 12th. If you have carried a balance and you have a payment due by your due date then just pay it then and it will have posted to your acct by the time your statement cuts. I just use a different card for a few days until my statement posts.

[ukrboy30]

The thing is that i have paid in full two other months and now understand that credit wont grow much with 0% balance reported. Difficult thing is to get the right date when they report. Interesting but BoA wont tell you on the phone when there is a reporting date as if they dont want you to know about it. I calle dthem and a lady said it gets reported on different dates.

[Gatortrout]

My BoA reports at the same time every month. 3 days after statement cuts I believe.

Interesting about the CLI theory. I have gotten CLI by both PIF every time and letting balances report so I dont know if there is exactly a perfect answer.

[ukrboy30]

Thanks for the replies so far. I undestand what is balance due date and statement closing date.

Question 1. My BoA balance due date is 12.16. If i leave balance on the 16th equal to utiliz. of 1-9% and pay it by the end of the day, will i pay the interest? Or it means that if i dont pay on the 16th, i will start paying interest on the 17th.

What i want to do is let the BoA report suggested 1-9% for better credit score and not 0%. So since most credit cards report on the balance due date, i want to make sure that if i pay at 11:59 pm on the 16th, my utili. will be reported and i wont have any interest.

Question 2. I noticed once i pay in full, it takes 1 day for the payment to be posted to account. If i pay in full on the 16th (balance due date) than only on the 18 payment will be posted. So does it mean that i will pay interest even though i paid in full on the 16th? (balance due date)

Thank you.