Interest free period on credit cards

Konrad.

I am using a Clarity credit card by Halifax. It has 56 free period, and on a website its wrote:

• You’ll get up to 56 days interest free on purchases, as long as you pay off your balance in full every month. 

And I don't get it. How can I get 56 days with no interest, if I have to pay credit card in full every 30 days?

For example, my last statement was in Sunday (26.03), and my credit card was fully paid. Payment date (which is 0.00) is set for a 20.04.

Today I spent 500 pounds, when I need to pay it in full, to don't be charge anything? Is that for free until payment on next statement? So around 20 of May?

MorningcoffeeIV

The 56 days is the maximum, if you make purchase the day your statement is generated. You have have 30 days until the next statement, then a further 26 days until payment is due.

You'll need to pay your £500 by the due date on the statement on which it appears.

eskbanker

The most important words are 'up to'!

If you made a purchase yesterday, i.e. the day after your statement was generated, it won't appear on your statement until about 26 April and won't be due for payment until about 20 May, hence around 56 days.

However, purchases immediately before the statement date only have a shorter window from purchase to payment.

In answer to your final questions, yes, today's purchase won't need to be paid until about 20 May, with no interest charged as long as you settle each statement in full....

TadleyBaggie

It’s not 56 days, it’s “up to 56 days”. So if you purchase something on the day you statement is generated, it won’t show up until the next statement. That’s 30 days or so. If you then pay the full balance on the due date, which is 20+ days later, that is 50+ days since you bought the item, and no interest was paid. 

Konrad.

I get it. So any transactions from now until next statement (26.04) are interest free until 20.05.

So it's confusing when they said that I have to pay in full credit card every month, because in April I don't need to pay anything. 

CliveOfIndia

To avoid paying interest, you just need to pay the full statement balance - at any point after the statement arrives but before the "payment due" date.

The "Up to 56 days interest free" thing can be a tad confusing - I'll try and explain it, using pretend dates for clarity.

Let's say your statement is produced on the 30th of the month.  When you receive your statement, the payment due date will typically be about 3 weeks after the statement is produced - so let's say the 21st.

You buy something on the 1st of March.  This will be included on the statement that's produced on 30th March.  It you pay in full on 21st April, you pay no interest.  So you've had 51 days of interest-free credit on that first purchase.

Like I say, those dates are made up for ease of explanation, but hopefully they will show how it works.  If you buy something on 29th March, you'll only benefit from 22 days of interest-free, as it'll still appear on 30th March's statement, and still needs to be paid by 21st April.

Konrad. said:

Today I spent 500 pounds, when I need to pay it in full, to don't be charge anything? Is that for free until payment on next statement? So around 20 of May?

There's no need to overthink it.  Just pay the full statement balance, after you've received the statement but before the "payment due" date and you'll not be charged interest (unless you've made any cash withdrawals or made any "cash-like" transactions).

MorningcoffeeIV

It's still correct. In April, the full balance you need to pay is £0. 

CliveOfIndia

Konrad. said:

So it's confusing when they said that I have to pay in full credit card every month, because in April I don't need to pay anything. 

If you want to be super-dooper hyper-pedantic about it then yes, you do need to make a payment of the full amount every month.  Just that in this particular scenario the payment you need to make is zero.

Sorry, that really is taking semantics to the nth degree!!  I guess you could kind of think of it like a car that is zero-rated for tax - you still need to apply for tax every year, even though the cost is £0.00

Konrad.

CliveOfIndia said:

Konrad. said:

So it's confusing when they said that I have to pay in full credit card every month, because in April I don't need to pay anything. 

If you want to be super-dooper hyper-pedantic about it then yes, you do need to make a payment of the full amount every month.  Just that in this particular scenario the payment you need to make is zero.

It's not about being "super pedantic" for me it's a big difference if I have to pay card in full on 20 of April, or 20 of May... 

But, thanks for all answers, I get it now .

surreysaver

Konrad. said:

CliveOfIndia said:

Konrad. said:

So it's confusing when they said that I have to pay in full credit card every month, because in April I don't need to pay anything. 

If you want to be super-dooper hyper-pedantic about it then yes, you do need to make a payment of the full amount every month.  Just that in this particular scenario the payment you need to make is zero.

It's not about being "super pedantic" for me it's a big difference if I have to pay card in full on 20 of April, or 20 of May... 

But, thanks for all answers, I get it now .

You pay what's on the statement, not what's on the card. Think of the statement as a bill or invoice