Generally your cards report on the date that the statement drops. Pay online 4-5 days before you expect your statement to drop (on many cards, the date wanders back and forth a few days each month.) That way, you can control what reports, and you can manage your util.
American Express does post the previous month's balance, go figure, so if you ever plan on doing some fine-tuning for your scores, keep in mind that you have to fix your AmEx balance first.
American Express does post the previous month's balance, go figure, so if you ever plan on doing some fine-tuning for your scores, keep in mind that you have to fix your AmEx balance first.
A few days before your statement drops.
Check either your printed statements or their on-line version. There will be a date on there somewhere. That is your statement date, the date on which the statement "drops." There will be another date on there, frequently about 2 1/2 - 3 weeks after the statement date, saying when your payment is due. That's your due date.
Most credit accounts report to the CRA's (credit bureaus) on their statement date, and they report whatever the balance is on that date. HSBC reports at the end of the month. A few report at all sorts of wacko times. My J.Crew card reports on Fridays, if there is a balance, if they feel like it, maybe.
But anyway, once you know when your cards report, you have to power to choose what amount gets reported. Well, assuming you've got money in the bank!
Check either your printed statements or their on-line version. There will be a date on there somewhere. That is your statement date, the date on which the statement "drops." There will be another date on there, frequently about 2 1/2 - 3 weeks after the statement date, saying when your payment is due. That's your due date.
Most credit accounts report to the CRA's (credit bureaus) on their statement date, and they report whatever the balance is on that date. HSBC reports at the end of the month. A few report at all sorts of wacko times. My J.Crew card reports on Fridays, if there is a balance, if they feel like it, maybe.
But anyway, once you know when your cards report, you have to power to choose what amount gets reported. Well, assuming you've got money in the bank!
dragracer wrote:
So rather than wait until the last minute before interest gets charged, it would be better for my credit to go ahead and pay the CC a few days before the statement date?Thanks for all your help!
Well, yes, kind of. I guess there might be a lower finance charge if you paid a bit early. It's not so much before the interest is charged, as before your charges over the last month, plus any unpaid balance, are posted on the new statement.
It's like being in 7th grade, and knowing that your report card is about to come out, and you're going to have a bad math grade, so you scramble around and do extra credit to improve your grade before the teacher fills out the card. Your report card is your statement, your grade is the amount that's on the statement, and the extra credit work is the payment that you make early to improve your grade/ lower the balance that reports.
Sheesh, I hope I haven't made it even more confusing! It's been a loooooong Friday. 
@Anonymous wrote:
So, when my credit is pulled, they only see the statement balance from the last statement? Not the individual charges? They only see the balance due when the statement "drops?"
I think that they might see the balances from the previous months, too. I pulled a full EX report, and I was startled to see all my balances listed from the time that a card was opened. But it doesn't show what all the individual purchases were for each month, just the total.
That balance that is reported to the CRA's is what is used to calculate your scores, which is why many of us pay our accounts early.