Paying Credit Card before the statement date

Darquess

I have just got a Vanquis card to build up my credit file. My first statement date is 5th December, however I would like to make a payment at the end of this month when I get paid. I want to use it for things I would buy anyway and just pay it in full each month.

Is it possible to pay off the balance before the statement date?

Nasqueron

If you know exactly the balance then yes but I believe it will not help you build your credit if you are paying off before the statement as it will show as zero balance every month (like you are not spending). Your statement will have a "due by" date and as long as you pay before that you will not get any interest charges.

Best bet is to set up a direct debit to pay in full every month (after you get paid to avoid bounces) and that will show you have spent responsibly and can pay back reliably.

Darquess

Thanks, I hadn't even thought of that! I was just worried about the due date falling short of Decembers pay. I could go in and pay it by card as soon as the statement is released though can't I? I just don't want to leave it until the middle of December and then struggle to cover it because I have dipped into the money.

I have already set up a DD to cover the minimum payment each month and was going to pay the rest with my debit card.

Nasqueron

Minimum payments are recorded on your credit file and can, to some lenders, suggest you are struggling to pay - change the DD to the full amount and ask the card provider if they are ok with taking it after the pay day - maybe once you have paid off a couple, not sure how they treat those but all my cards have been set up with DD after pay day (mine tend to go on the last day of month or even a few days into the next one). I think it just looks better to lenders that you are paying off in full but yes after the statement is done you can pay the balance off as it will have been recorded as a debt by then, which you then clear off showing you are a good person

molerat

Another problem could be if your payment crosses with the statement production then that payment will not be recorded on that statement and then a payment would be due although there is a £0 balance. It is best to leave payments to after statement is produced.

jaydeeuk1

On my american express I have a DD to pay off full balance. When I had a statement come through with £2000 due by x date, I paid £2000 manually the next day, but they then took another £2000 by DD too a couple of weeks later.

Nasqueron

I managed that with a BT - purchase made so I moved virtually the whole balance over and they took the previous month statement via DD anyway (automatically I assume, will know for next time) so ended up with 2 cards in credit to the tune of about a grand, took a little while to spend that credit off lol

YoungTrafford

I have a DD for the minimum, just in case. I wait for the bill to be generated, log in and pay by faster payment. In your case, if the bill date is the 5th, you could log in and pay on the 6th. Beware though, you are not paying "the rest" of the balance allowing for the minimum to go on DD... If you owed 100, minimum would be 5, but paying 95 would stop the DD going as it counts as the minimum payment already being in the 95... So to clear it you'd have to pay the full balance by faster payment. Log in a few days later and you'll see "minimum payment" is now 0.