What qualifies as PIF?

[Anonymous]

I've been out of the credit card game for a while now. After being declined for a couple of cards due to insufficient credit history, I decided to get one so I could get that sorted out. I was approved for, and received, the Amazon Visa.

Anyway, now to the question. I just received and paid my first statement. The balance on the statement was about $80, but I have made a couple of charges since then, so the total credit card balance is greater than the statement balence. Now, as long as I pay that $80, does that count as PIF for that statement beriod, or do I need to have an acual 0 balance on the due date to avoid interest?

[DoroLucky]

PIF = Statement balance.

[Anonymous]

Excellent! Thanks.

So, as long as I pay at least the statement balance by the due date, I don't need to worry about subsequent charges and balances. That's good to know. My dues date is not for another 3 weeks. I've already paid off the statement balance plus some, and will probably have the remainder off by then too. With the way that charges and payments can take several days to apply, I wasn't sure if I should lay off using the card around the due date or not.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Excellent! Thanks.

So, as long as I pay at least the statement balance by the due date, I don't need to worry about subsequent charges and balances. That's good to know. My dues date is not for another 3 weeks. I've already paid off the statement balance plus some, and will probably have the remainder off by then too. With the way that charges and payments can take several days to apply, I wasn't sure if I should lay off using the card around the due date or not.

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Right, paying statement balance by the due date will avoid interest and late charges.  Charges incurred after statement close (including those before due date) will appear on the following statement.

Many people here also try to pay before statement close (so the statement reports as $0) but that is really only needed if you are apping for something and need to maximize socre

[Anonymous]

Exactly paying in full is the statement balance however a side note is that some creditors will update another time in same month if you knock down to zero. Chase for example.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys! Sorry for all the dumb questions. I just want to make sure I understand everything correctly from the start, so I can avoid any issues.

I'm keeping my utilization pretty low. Current statement balance is only 2%, I really don't see going over 10%, so would paying down to 0 each month make a noticeable difference?

My goal is to use the card, and pay that use off weekly. In the overlap between posting payment and it beeing applied, there can be another purchase (gas, groceries, etc), so there will probably always be a rotating balance on there just waiting for the appropriate payment to hit.

Which brings up another question. Given my weekly payment habits, it may happen that the statement balance would get paid in two installments. Is this acceptable, or should I alter my routine for that week to pay the statement balance in one shot?

[takeshi74]

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TheBrad wrote: 

I'm keeping my utilization pretty low. Current statement balance is only 2%, I really don't see going over 10%, so would paying down to 0 each month make a noticeable difference?

Probably not but you'd have to test to verify.  If this is your only card do not let it report a 0 balance.  Generally speaking, bigger impact is from bigger changes to revolving utilization.  However, it's not just about revolving utilization.  All the factors matter.

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@Anonymous wrote:

With the way that charges and payments can take several days to apply, I wasn't sure if I should lay off using the card around the due date or not.

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The due date doesn't matter aside from being when the payment for a given cycle is due.  You can use your card as you like as the cycle that is due has already closed out and you're in the following cycle.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Now, as long as I pay that $80, does that count as PIF for that statement beriod, or do I need to have an acual 0 balance on the due date to avoid interest?

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Answered above but don't overlook the terms for your card as they also explain this and contain a lot of other information that you should be aware of.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Which brings up another question. Given my weekly payment habits, it may happen that the statement balance would get paid in two installments. Is this acceptable, or should I alter my routine for that week to pay the statement balance in one shot?

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Doesn't matter as long as you pay the statement balance in full by the due date.  Your payments are not going to impact the reported balance as it already reported.  A scoring model uses the data in a report.  It cannot access current account balances, activiity, etc.

[Anonymous]

Sort of a related question here guys.  If you pay your statement balance (PIF) by the due date, whatever it is say the 14th every month and typically your creditor reports to the bureaus a few days later on the 17th for example... if any charges post to your account on the 15th or 16th would a balance be reported to the bureaus or would it not since it would be part of the next statement?  I've often worried about using a card following the few days after I PIF when I want the card to report a zero balance for this reason.

[Anonymous]

What gets reported is whatever the new statement cut balances so don't use your card up to a week after your due date to be safe. If your timing is off that is like digging a hole at the beach that continues to fill with water

[jawbrkr]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Sort of a related question here guys.  If you pay your statement balance (PIF) by the due date, whatever it is say the 14th every month and typically your creditor reports to the bureaus a few days later on the 17th for example... if any charges post to your account on the 15th or 16th would a balance be reported to the bureaus or would it not since it would be part of the next statement?  I've often worried about using a card following the few days after I PIF when I want the card to report a zero balance for this reason.

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No. What gets reported is the balance that is shown the day you get your statement. But if you have multiple cards, you dont want them all to report zero. Thats is not good. You want one, maybe two cards to report some kind of balance. That shows you are using credit given to you. If you report zero, your score takes a dip but recovers the next month if you show a balance on a card. Matter of fact, last month I reported $8.99. Funny thing is I didnt expect that $8.99 from netflix to post but it saved me.