Payment due date /statement date

hisbrodieness

My credit card statement runs 3rd to 3rd. Does that mean if my balance is zero on 2nd/3rd then I pay no interest? My payment due date is 28th of the month and I always pay above the minimum. I've got a small outstanding balance today (waiting for a refund but it might not be in for another 10 days) so is I make a payment to zero that by 2nd then I will pay no interest. Means my credit card might be in positive balance when the refund arrives... But I will use the credit card for my weekly shopping to zero the balance again.

Have I got that right? Make at least minimum payment and then 2nd/3rd is the date I need to have zero balance to post no interest?

Thanks

Brie

check your T&Cs and even then you may not know for sure.  some cards will say that payment needs to be made by X date which could be a few days before the statement is produced.  I think it's that way with my MBNA and Santander cards.  But my M&S one says pay by X but they never charge if the balance is zero on the statement date.

Nebulous2

I'm not sure I'm following what you mean, but:- 

You don't need to have a zero balance at any point to avoid interest. 

You will get a statement, from the dates you have given that will be ready around the 4th. If the due date is the 28th, you need to pay the full statement balance by the 28th, not the account balance. As long as you keep doing that every month you should avoid interest. 

There are some exceptions, drawing cash, or cash-like transactions may mean you pay interest anyway and some cards for people with poor credit may charge interest anyway, but as long as your credit card says something like 'up to 56 days interest free' and you don't draw cash, you will be fine. 

Brie

also having no interest charged is dependent normally on having paid the full statement balance for the previous month.  

born_again

hisbrodieness said:

My credit card statement runs 3rd to 3rd. Does that mean if my balance is zero on 2nd/3rd then I pay no interest? My payment due date is 28th of the month and I always pay above the minimum. I've got a small outstanding balance today (waiting for a refund but it might not be in for another 10 days) so is I make a payment to zero that by 2nd then I will pay no interest. Means my credit card might be in positive balance when the refund arrives... But I will use the credit card for my weekly shopping to zero the balance again.

Have I got that right? Make at least minimum payment and then 2nd/3rd is the date I need to have zero balance to post no interest?

Thanks

If you do not clear the balance in full each month you will be charged interest on transactions from the date they were made in that statement period.

So best to ensure zero balance & spend the refund to appear, as they do not always count as payments.
If it is a large refund, then you can get it transferred to bank acc FOC, but if a small one that you will spend in the month, not worth it.

MrFrugalFever

Once your statement has been generated, providing you pay the total amount (or more) on that statement by the due date and continue to do so you should not be charged interest. The only exception to this is cash withdrawal, cash-like transactions or foreign purchases (depending on T’s & C’s).

hisbrodieness

Thanks for the replies. It's only taken me a day to understand this!!! I buy something on 5th July, it is recorded on my 3rd Aug statement and should be paid by 28th August so there's no interest. So that's 56 days interest free (which my credit card says up to 56 days interest free). I was thinking that something I bought in 5th July should be paid off by my next statement date but that's not right.

If I buy something on 1st Aug it's on my 3rd Aug statement to be paid by 28th Aug, so 27 days before there is interest. 

molerat

You need to pay off the full statement balance by the due date to avoid interest, you do not need to pay the account balance down.  As it says, you get UP TO 56 days interest free.  The 56 days only applies to things purchased pretty much on statement date, things purchased one day before statement will get around 25 days.  If you do not pay off the statement in full, even 1p short, everything will be charged interest from the date of purchase.  The easiest way to manage a card is to set up a direct debit either for the minimum, which will avoid you getting any late payment penalties, or the full amount.

Nebulous2

hisbrodieness said:

Thanks for the replies. It's only taken me a day to understand this!!! I buy something on 5th July, it is recorded on my 3rd Aug statement and should be paid by 28th August so there's no interest. So that's 56 days interest free (which my credit card says up to 56 days interest free). I was thinking that something I bought in 5th July should be paid off by my next statement date but that's not right.

If I buy something on 1st Aug it's on my 3rd Aug statement to be paid by 28th Aug, so 27 days before there is interest.

 As long as you pay the full statement balance. If you don't you will pay interest from the 1st of Aug. 

There is no need to worry about zeroing the balance. Make sure you pay the full amount on the statement.