Interest free period....

maxmycardagain

Our Halifax credit  has a "56 day interest free" on the statement but how do i check the start date on that? the statement date is the 19th each month payment the 15th of the next month

DullGreyGuy

Start date is the date the last statement was produced. It should say "up to" and is dependent on your clearing the balance in full.

You therefore get circa 28 days until the next statement is produced and then 28 days to pay that statement hence up to 56 days. Something bought later in the billing cycle gets less days because, say it was 14 days in, then its 14 days until the statement and 28 days for you to pay so 42 days rather than 56

la531983

Anything you spend that just missed the statement date will attract the full 56 days, so anything posted to the account on the 19th. It certainly wont be 56 days for everything, some things will be as short as 31 or 32 days, surely it says UP TO 56 days?

CliveOfIndia

To clarify, this is the standard way all credit cards work, it's not a special deal or anything.  As long as you repay the full statement balance before the "payment due" date, you'll pay no interest.

Using made-up dates for the sake of illustration, it works something like this:

You buy something on the 1st February.  You get your statement on the 1st March (which includes the transaction in question).  Your payment is due by 26th March.  If you pay the full statement balance on or before 26th March, you've benefitted from 56 days (or thereabouts) of interest-free credit.

If you make a purchase on 25th February, it'll still appear on the 1st March statement and still need paying by 26th March, but here you've only had the benefit of 30 days or so of interest-free credit.

maxmycardagain

CliveOfIndia said:

To clarify, this is the standard way all credit cards work, it's not a special deal or anything.  As long as you repay the full statement balance before the "payment due" date, you'll pay no interest.

Using made-up dates for the sake of illustration, it works something like this:

You buy something on the 1st February.  You get your statement on the 1st March (which includes the transaction in question).  Your payment is due by 26th March.  If you pay the full statement balance on or before 26th March, you've benefitted from 56 days (or thereabouts) of interest-free credit.

If you make a purchase on 25th February, it'll still appear on the 1st March statement and still need paying by 26th March, but here you've only had the benefit of 30 days or so of interest-free credit.

in my case the statement date is 19th, payment next month 15th

so if i buy an article on the 20th of February, it will appear on the March 19th statement for payment 15th April...... i think....lol

maxmycardagain

got it thanks

CliveOfIndia

maxmycardagain said:

CliveOfIndia said:

To clarify, this is the standard way all credit cards work, it's not a special deal or anything.  As long as you repay the full statement balance before the "payment due" date, you'll pay no interest.

Using made-up dates for the sake of illustration, it works something like this:

You buy something on the 1st February.  You get your statement on the 1st March (which includes the transaction in question).  Your payment is due by 26th March.  If you pay the full statement balance on or before 26th March, you've benefitted from 56 days (or thereabouts) of interest-free credit.

If you make a purchase on 25th February, it'll still appear on the 1st March statement and still need paying by 26th March, but here you've only had the benefit of 30 days or so of interest-free credit.

in my case the statement date is 19th, payment next month 15th

so if i buy an article on the 20th of February, it will appear on the March 19th statement for payment 15th April...... i think....lol

Spot on.  Sorry, I probably confused things unnecessarily by using fictitious dates!

But yep, if you make a purchase on the first date of your "billing cycle", whatever that may be, and pay the statement on the due date, you'll pay no interest.  Things like 30/31 day months, and February, alter the precise number of interest-free days you get - which is why they always say "Up to" 56 days.

Important to note - you do need to pay the FULL statement balance by the due date.  Pay £1 less than the full amount and you'll be charged interest on the whole lot.  Interest accrues on every transaction on a daily basis, and is only waived if you pay the full statement balance.

DullGreyGuy

maxmycardagain said:

CliveOfIndia said:

To clarify, this is the standard way all credit cards work, it's not a special deal or anything.  As long as you repay the full statement balance before the "payment due" date, you'll pay no interest.

Using made-up dates for the sake of illustration, it works something like this:

You buy something on the 1st February.  You get your statement on the 1st March (which includes the transaction in question).  Your payment is due by 26th March.  If you pay the full statement balance on or before 26th March, you've benefitted from 56 days (or thereabouts) of interest-free credit.

If you make a purchase on 25th February, it'll still appear on the 1st March statement and still need paying by 26th March, but here you've only had the benefit of 30 days or so of interest-free credit.

in my case the statement date is 19th, payment next month 15th

so if i buy an article on the 20th of February, it will appear on the March 19th statement for payment 15th April...... i think....lol

Exactly, as long as you are clearing each statement in full each time. Hence if you buy something on the 1st March instead you get less days for that item and the need for the "up to"