Credit Card Statement

To learn about the transactions you made in the previous month and the interest rates, as well as about the available balance and finances, you should pay close attention to your monthly credit card statement, where you’ll find all kinds of informative details on your current account.

One important thing to be aware of is the closing date of your credit card available on the credit card statement. That is, the last day on which you can carry out payments and purchases in a billing cycle. Any other transaction posted after midnight, that day will appear in your next month statement. Another place where you can learn about the closing date of your card is to check your online account which is usually listed on the account overview. You can always request your bank services provider to send you an email or inform you in some other way on this matter.

This doesn’t mean that you payment is due to the closing date you find on the credit card statement. Banks typically offer a period of 20 to 25 days when you can make the payment and avoid paying interests to your current month purchases. So make a clear distinction between the closing date of your credit card, which announces the end of a billing cycle and the beginning of a new one, and the due date for your credit card payment, which lasts for 25 days after the closing date. This is the best time to make the payment in order to avoid lateness taxes. This is actually called “grace period” and it’s a common thing among bank service providers. It’s basically intended to ensure the customer with enough time to make the full payment and avoid being charged interest.

It is very important to read carefully the credit card statement and to learn about the closing date of your credit card, because this way you can avoid making big purchases at the end of your billing cycle and having less time to pay for it. You can plan your big spending at the beginning of a cycle in order to get as much time as possible for making the full payment. If you do so, you’ll get a maximum of 49 days before the payment due date – considering the month has 31 days and adding the grace period of approximately 20 days.

Not knowing this vital information on your credit card and ignoring the payments’ due dates can have a very bad influence on your bank file or your credit card score. Banks are usually very strict with dates and don’t allow any late payments without charging interest. So why not plan ahead your purchases, paying attention to the dates and interests and make smart moves? It’s not that hard, once you’ve figured out the information on your credit card statement and what every number stands for. This will allow you to have full control of your money and to not pay unnecessary taxes.