Still confused with statement dates. My statement closing date is June 21st. My payment due date is July 18th. I don't see anything on my statement about a statement opening date. So if I want to pay in full in order for the balance to be 0 when the bank reports to the CRA's, when do I pay it??? I read the comments and they all say to pay BEFORE the statement "cuts" so when is that??? If it's the closing date, does June 20th become the defacto due date insofar as the CRA's are concerned??? It cannot possibly be the same month as the payment due date because that would make the payment late. Very confused.
@Revelate wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Leaf wrote:Say my cards payment due date is on Friday April 21st, does it matter if I pay off the current balance before my due date, or is it better to pay off the entire balance afterwards for that month, April 22nd onward without incurring the interest yet (ie they'll request a minimum payment of say $35 but I just pay it all off instead).
Want to understand if doing one way is better for the other in terms of affecting credit.
The main reason I ask is because, I've had a chase freedom credit card for 5 years now with no offer or auto credit limit increase, and am unsure how the actual system works for counting things like utilization. I've always paid off my current balance 1 or 2 days before the cut off /payment due date, so it would be $0 going into the next month's cycle. Would always making a payment prior to the due date make it look like I don't use my card much, therefore have no headroom for requesting a higher limit?1. You should never ever pay after the due date, but it wouldn't make a difference to the lender how close to the due date you paid.
2. It could make a difference to your FICO 8 score and to some of your other FICO scores. The optimal credit card utilization is all cards but one reporting a zero balance and one card reporting a sub 10% balance. So that would mean paying all but one of your cards that are in use before the statement cut.
Until those pesky lender algorithms take a look at your account
That said I don't worry about it, if I need to PIF beforehand I do, if not I usually just sloppily pay everything on the 1st of the month roughly. Financially you just put it on autopay for statement balance and go on with life, keep the money in your pocket for as long as possible rather than giving the the lender the money early (where the get the interest/revenue rather than you) but hey.
@Revelate wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Leaf wrote:Say my cards payment due date is on Friday April 21st, does it matter if I pay off the current balance before my due date, or is it better to pay off the entire balance afterwards for that month, April 22nd onward without incurring the interest yet (ie they'll request a minimum payment of say $35 but I just pay it all off instead).
Want to understand if doing one way is better for the other in terms of affecting credit.
The main reason I ask is because, I've had a chase freedom credit card for 5 years now with no offer or auto credit limit increase, and am unsure how the actual system works for counting things like utilization. I've always paid off my current balance 1 or 2 days before the cut off /payment due date, so it would be $0 going into the next month's cycle. Would always making a payment prior to the due date make it look like I don't use my card much, therefore have no headroom for requesting a higher limit?1. You should never ever pay after the due date, but it wouldn't make a difference to the lender how close to the due date you paid.
2. It could make a difference to your FICO 8 score and to some of your other FICO scores. The optimal credit card utilization is all cards but one reporting a zero balance and one card reporting a sub 10% balance. So that would mean paying all but one of your cards that are in use before the statement cut.
Until those pesky lender algorithms take a look at your account
That said I don't worry about it, if I need to PIF beforehand I do, if not I usually just sloppily pay everything on the 1st of the month roughly. Financially you just put it on autopay for statement balance and go on with life, keep the money in your pocket for as long as possible rather than giving the the lender the money early (where the get the interest/revenue rather than you) but hey.
@Leaf wrote:Say my cards payment due date is on Friday April 21st, does it matter if I pay off the current balance before my due date, or is it better to pay off the entire balance afterwards for that month, April 22nd onward without incurring the interest yet (ie they'll request a minimum payment of say $35 but I just pay it all off instead).
Want to understand if doing one way is better for the other in terms of affecting credit.
The main reason I ask is because, I've had a chase freedom credit card for 5 years now with no offer or auto credit limit increase, and am unsure how the actual system works for counting things like utilization. I've always paid off my current balance 1 or 2 days before the cut off /payment due date, so it would be $0 going into the next month's cycle. Would always making a payment prior to the due date make it look like I don't use my card much, therefore have no headroom for requesting a higher limit?
Paying as soon as you can, even way before the due date, makes you look just fine to the bank.
