Hi to all I was wondering when is the best time to pay a credit card: Suppose I have an Amex card with $5,000 credit limit, the statement day is the 20th of each month with 17 days grace period. If I make purchases for $4,800 from the June 21th to about July 15th and want to pay the card in full. With the main purpose of having in my credit file a report for a maximum usage and NO outstanding balance. 1- Is it best to pay it a) around July 18 (just before the statement date) OR b) July 22, OR c) August 5 (just before the end of the grace period) ? 2- About how many days after the statement date, do Credit Card Issuers wait before posting to the Credit Bureaus ? 3- Does anybody knows about the Credit Bureau reporting dates of various Credit Card Issuers ? 4- If my credit file shows each month a report for a maximum usage and NO outstanding balance, does this affect me positive, as I assume ? 5- Same as question # 1 but this time with Cash Advances ? 6- Is there any "catch" in using the credit card cheques sent by a credit card issuer ? when used is it considered as cash advance OR purchase ? Ant delay before showing up in the statement ? Thanks to all for your input
I don't own an American Express card, but based on my own personal experience I found paying a credit card prior to the "closing" date generally results in a 'zero' balance on your credit report.
It depends, some checks carry no fee and are charged as purchases or get teaser rates, that is the way that I use all my personal and/or business cards. I never purchase anything with a card. I use credit for cash to invest. www.creditsense.com
Actually, the best time to pay AMEX is 3-4 days before your grace expires. That way you're not giving them the money before you have to (and collecting that $.03 that it'll earn in your savings account for the extra two weeks it's there). As for your other question, there is no way for you to "pre-pay" your bill with AMEX. IN other words, if your statement closes on the 20th you can't send them a check on the 15th and have them zero you out before the statement closes. It doesn't work that way -- they either won't cash your check or won't accept your payment until your statement closes. What this means is that AMEX will always report your last month's balance on your credit reports. So there is no way to get them to report a $0 balance unless you don't spend any money during that month. If you're concerned about % utilization when applying for credit there's a simple solution: plan ahead before you apply and stop using your credit card 2-3 months before you apply. That should give the CRAs enough time to update (and if they're slow send them proof of your balance).
Thank you Peachkiwi By "closing date" do you refer to the "date of the statement" OR the "expiration date of the grace period". Thanks again
Thank you klingsor for your reply 1- I am less concerned about the intrest I'll gain by leaving the money in my savings account than avoiding the outrageous credit card interest WHILE using their money to the full extend. 2- I always pay a credit card balance at the bank counter or by using my ATM debit card. But somehow you must be right because when I pay 1-3 days prior to my statement date, so far I NEVER see it reported on my statement for that statement date. There must be a cut date somewhere: this makes me wonder where in the cyber-banking system is money once it is gone from my account and not in the payee's account. If the Credit Card Issuer is holding my money for days whitout reporting it on my statement, shouldn't that be fraudulent practice and illegal ??? ----------------------- REMINDER: 3- Does anybody knows about the Credit Bureau reporting dates of various Credit Card Issuers ? 4- If my credit file shows each month a report for a maximum usage and NO outstanding balance, does this affect me positive, as I assume ? ----------------------- GENERAL NOTE: I made reference to AMEX but the answers I am looking for may apply to MBNA or any another major credit card.
The "closing date" is generally the last day of the billing cycle. This date is generally posted at the beginning of your statement. On the other hand, "expiration date of the grace period" is your actual "payment due date". I might also add, that by paying your bill during the grace period (The beginning of the billing cycle to the payment due date) the credit card company will more than likely report an outstanding balance. I hope this helps!
Major Credit Card Issuers generally report to the Credit Bureaus a day or two following the closing date of your statement. It may affect you negatively because Equifax and TU likes to see at least one revolving balance. It doesn't have to be large. As for Experian, it's hard to say, I am still trying to figure them out!
This is not true. I always pay my bill before it cycles and AMEX reports a 0 balance. You can make a payment online anytime you wish and it will be credited the same day, depending on what time you make the payment.
I HAVE DONE THE SAME... BUT you can not over-pay your bill...not even $1.00 You can pay 100% of all charges...even ones that have not been billed yet...
George we overpaid our Amex line of credit by $7,000 just last month. Why do you say it cannot be done? www.creditsense.com
Re: Re: Best Way To Use A Credit Card BECAUSE I WAS THREATENED WITH ACCOUNT CLOSURE BECAUSE IT VIOLATES THE CREDIT CARD AGREEMENT!!! THAT IS WHY!!! That is what I was told...MAYBE I was lied to??? AMEX HATES ME ANY-WAY!!!
Re: Re: Best Way To Use A Credit Ca Very interesting...When did this happened? And how much did you overpay? Just curious. www.creditsense.com
Re: Re: Best Way To Use A Credit Ca When you refer to "reporting maximum usage each month," I'm not sure what you mean. They'll show your credit limit (sometimes, if it's a no set limit, Cap One or a few others, it will be your high credit), your high credit (not this month, but ever), and your balance. On one of the reports (I don't remember which and maybe they all do it, I haven't looked at mine in several months), they show the balance each month. But if it's reported as zero, it will show zero for each month. It doesn't show how much you charged and paid. That seems to be one of the fallacies. If I use my card and pay it off each month, never pay interest, to the credit bureaus I have a balance all the time. And if I just happen to charge about the same amount every month, it will look like I never pay anything off. That's why the suggestion that if you're going for a mortgage or something, pay it off a few months ahead of time and don't use it again.
Re: Re: Best Way To Use A Credit Ca Thanks to all for your time on this thread, sharing your experience and know-how. I just came across a thread Cap1 High Balance trick works discussing one aspect of this post. You may have a look at that post AND COME BACK HERE, please to shed more light. Thanks again to all Bela
