Credit card - balance payment before/after statement date

pacpac2018

Does it make a difference vis-a-vis the credit card company if I pay the outstanding amount before statement date, so the balance at statement date is 0, or pay off the full balance some days after the statement is issued?

[Deleted User]

It only makes a difference to how the card company treats it if you're not consistently clearing in full each months, where it may impact which transactions are being paid off.

From a credit reporting point of view, it's best to wait for the the statement so you can be certain of building decent credit history.

OceanSound

Deleted_User wrote: »

It only makes a difference to how the card company treats it if you're not consistently clearing in full each months, where it may impact which transactions are being paid off.

From a credit reporting point of view, it's best to wait for the the statement so you can be certain of building decent credit history.

My M&S Bank credit card 0% purchases offer ends on 25 November 2018. I have a balance of £2902.79 (all purchases, no cash advances or balance transfers balance).

My statement date is 24 November 2018. Should I only pay the balance of £2902.79 after the statement is generated? If it so happens that my statement is generated on 24th night, and I don't see it until 25th. Making payment on 25th, I've worked out there will be interest of around £1.50 (1 days interest).

If I pay before the statement, would I not be 'building decent credit history'? I would have thought paying before the statement date would still register positively, particularly since I've had this balance for a while now.

I presume you mean, making a purchase then clearing it within the same month (before statement is generated) would not build credit history?

MallyGirl

If you pay before the statement is generated then they will report a zero balance to the CRAs for that month so it would look like there is no activity rather than paying a day after which would report the statement balance

OceanSound

MallyGirl wrote: »

If you pay before the statement is generated then they will report a zero balance to the CRAs for that month so it would look like there is no activity rather than paying a day after which would report the statement balance

I've been paying a 0% purchases balance (starting at nearly £4000) for about six months using direct debit.

So, by waiting for the statement to be produced then paying the full balance on or after 24th, it would register me being in £2902.79 debt for an additional month, and that's good in terms of credit building is it? (because I've taken longer to clear the balance?)

OceanSound

Take it from the silence that it wouldn't matter if I paid before the statement date? or it might even be more favourable to pay before the statement date in this situation.

MallyGirl

I don't think it makes much difference either way in this instance - if you pay early you 'lose' one month of activity being visible but you 'gain' being zero in debt to this provider
Swings and roundabouts

18cc

You didn't say what card it was but if it is Halifax for example and you pay the statement balance after the statement date then they still take the full statement balance from your direct debit (assuming you have one set up of course). Most other credit cards will also take the balance if you leave it too close to the payment date before paying because it is too late for them to stop the direct debit.

Ben8282

OceanSound wrote: »

My M&S Bank credit card 0% purchases offer ends on 25 November 2018. I have a balance of £2902.79 (all purchases, no cash advances or balance transfers balance).

My statement date is 24 November 2018. Should I only pay the balance of £2902.79 after the statement is generated? If it so happens that my statement is generated on 24th night, and I don't see it until 25th. Making payment on 25th, I've worked out there will be interest of around £1.50 (1 days interest).

If I pay before the statement, would I not be 'building decent credit history'? I would have thought paying before the statement date would still register positively, particularly since I've had this balance for a while now.

I presume you mean, making a purchase then clearing it within the same month (before statement is generated) would not build credit history?

This situation is completely different from the question asked by the OP.
If you have been accepted for a n M&S 0% purchases card I would imagine that you already have a decent credit history and have nothing to build.
I assume that you have maintained this account in good order throughout the 0% period with no missed or late payments etc.
In your situation I would repay the balance a few days before the 0% offer ends to make sure that you are not charged any interest on it which would exceed any interest that you would receive by 'stoozing' for a few extra days,

redux

OceanSound wrote: »

My M&S Bank credit card 0% purchases offer ends on 25 November 2018. I have a balance of £2902.79 (all purchases, no cash advances or balance transfers balance).

My statement date is 24 November 2018. Should I only pay the balance of £2902.79 after the statement is generated? If it so happens that my statement is generated on 24th night, and I don't see it until 25th. Making payment on 25th, I've worked out there will be interest of around £1.50 (1 days interest).

If I pay before the statement, would I not be 'building decent credit history'? I would have thought paying before the statement date would still register positively, particularly since I've had this balance for a while now.

I presume you mean, making a purchase then clearing it within the same month (before statement is generated) would not build credit history?

Is that £2903 the statement balance or real-time?

If it consists of for example £2600 on the last statement and £303 spending since then, I would pay the £2600 tomorrow or the next day (during the weekend might count it as arriving Monday), wait for the £303 to appear on the next statement in due course, pay that by next due date as normal.

But it probably doesn't matter much. For "building credit history", I'd imagine that the reduced overall borrowing is more significant than splitting hairs about the precise day it happened.

OceanSound

18cc wrote: »

You didn't say what card it was...

I thought M&S bank only had one credit card..

Most other credit cards will also take the balance if you leave it too close to the payment date before paying because it is too late for them to stop the direct debit.

Yes, I've noticed this. I wasn't sure if M&S Bank credit card was one these, so I cancelled the DD last month and resorted to manual payments.

I've seen Barclaycard internet banking shows a message after certain cut-off date 'we will claim the DD, even if you pay in full'. Nice touch (considering you could end up with a credit balance if you make full payment and the DD also goes through).