Accidentally carried a balance... how do I reset?

MrDisco99 · ‎09-01-2020

So I just figured out that cashing in rewards on my Affinity card does not count as payment towards the balance, even if it takes the balance down to zero. I made additional purchases later in the month and got a little surprise interest charge on my statement today.

Assuming I pay it down to zero right away (with real money), do I also need to report zero balance next statement to bring back the grace period?

One of my hard rules was to never pay interest, so I'm really annoyed about this.

Affinity Cash Rewards VSig $25,000 prime +9.25%

Amex Hilton Surpass $20,000 prime+17.49%

Amex Blue Business Plus $30,000 prime+12.99%

Barclays Wyndham Earner VSig $22,800 prime+11.99%

Cap1 Quicksilver WEMC $10,000 prime+14.74%

Chase Freedom Flex WEMC $10,000 prime+17.49%

Chase Freedom Unlimited VSig $10,000 prime+17.49%

Chase IHG Select WMC $5,000 prime+19.74%

Chase Sapphire Preferred VSig $10,000 prime+12.74%

Citi DoubleCash WEMC $10,000 prime+16.24%

Citi Custom Cash WEMC $11,200 prime+12.74%

Renasant (Elan) Max Cash Preferred VSig $25,000 prime+11.24%

Renasant (Elan) Everyday Rewards+ VSig $4,000 prime+11.24%

Synchrony Verizon VSig $15,000 prime+18.49%

Brian_Earl_Spilner · ‎09-01-2020

Typically, you have to have a statement cut at 0 to get back your grace period. Not sure about affinity.

Anonymous · ‎09-01-2020

PIF ASAP so that interest stops accruing immediately, unless it will be the minimum interest amount anyway. If not, even include estimated interest+ for current cycle so that statement has a small credit balance when it cuts. Probably not necessary but that's what I'd do.

You probably only paid pocket change in interest, but a mistake you won't make again.