When should I pay my credit card to avoid interest?

LouP25

It's so difficult to find answer to this. My question is: Should I pay my credit card by the due date or statement date, to avoid monthly interest? I'm not talking about late payment fee.

I heard if I pay my cc in full each month about 2 days (or earlier) before the ... date, they won't charge me interest. 

Which ... date is that ? Is it the date when statement is produced?

Thank you;)

DullGreyGuy

LouP25 said:

It's so difficult to find answer to this. My question is: Should I pay my credit card by the due date or statement date, to avoid monthly interest? I'm not talking about late payment fee.

I heard if I pay my cc in full each month about 2 days (or earlier) before the ... date, they won't charge me interest. 

Which ... date is that ? Is it the date when statement is produced?

Thank you;)

You need to pay the full statement balance in cleared funds by the due date on the statement, how quickly payments clear will depend on your payment method and card issuer. Alternatively set a DD to make the full payment and then you dont have to worry as they'll take it on the right date. 

Note that if you have been paying interest you will have to pay two statements in a row in full to stop the trailing interest. 

On-the-coast

To avoid interest you need to pay in full (not the minimum amount) several working days before the due date.  

Allow 3-4 full working days to be on the safe side. 

Don’t include weekends. 

CliveOfIndia

LouP25 said:

It's so difficult to find answer to this. My question is: Should I pay my credit card by the due date or statement date, to avoid monthly interest?

You need to pay by the "Payment Due" date, which will be clearly printed on your statement.  It varies slightly from one card to another, but it's typically around 3 weeks or so after the statement is generated.

As above, the simplest is to set up a DD.  But if you prefer to pay manually, make sure you allow time for the payment to clear - usually not an issue with faster payments, but don't leave it right until the last minute, just in case.

MikeJXE

The safest way to achieve that is set up a direct debit on the card to take full amount monthly 

That way you will never pay interest or worry about it either 

LouP25

DullGreyGuy said:

You need to pay the full statement balance in cleared funds by the due date on the statement.

Statement date: 12 November
Due date: 7 December
We will attempt to take £* on 17 November 

Now I see 3 dates. So I suppose the date by which I should pay each month to avoid interest is 7 December

Thank you

On-the-coast

Sounds like you already have a DD set up on 17 Nov.  But is it for the full amount?

DullGreyGuy

LouP25 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

You need to pay the full statement balance in cleared funds by the due date on the statement.

Statement date: 12 November
Due date: 7 December
We will attempt to take £* on 17 November 

Now I see 3 dates. By which date should I pay each month to avoid interest?

Thank you

Sounds like you have a DD on the basis of the "we will attempt" and so as long as the £* = the statement balance no action required. If £* is below the statement balance you would need to get the rest of the funds to them by the 7th December. The same mechanism is to pay 3 clear working days before so 3 Dec but you can potentially do it closer to the 7th depending on your payment method and cc issuer

LouP25

On-the-coast said:

Sounds like you already have a DD set up on 17 Nov.  But is it for the full amount?

No, it's not for the full amount. Maybe I'll call them to ask change my direct debit to 6th December full amount each month...

LouP25

Thank you all! I now understand. )

molerat

LouP25 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

You need to pay the full statement balance in cleared funds by the due date on the statement.

Statement date: 12 November
Due date: 7 December
We will attempt to take £* on 17 November 

Now I see 3 dates. So I suppose the date by which I should pay each month to avoid interest is 7 December

Thank you

Which card is this? Never seen one that takes a payment so far ahead of the due date - most of mine take it on the due date, worst case around 5 days before.