When is my credit card bill due?

The best time to pay a credit card bill is a few days before the due date, which is listed on the monthly statement. Paying at least the minimum amount required by the due date keeps the account in good standing and is the key to building a good or excellent credit score. That’s true for everyone, but some people might want to take things a step further, particularly cardholders carrying balances from month to month and people with high ... read full answercredit utilization.

When to Pay a Credit Card’s Bill

1. If you are carrying a balance from month to month:

If you have a credit card balance that you carry from month to month, it’s best to pay that credit card’s bill as soon as the monthly account statement becomes available. This will save you money on interest. Paying the card’s monthly bill in full for two consecutive months will also reduce your interest charges by reinstituting your account’s grace period. Instead of purchases beginning to accrue daily interest charges right after you make them, you will have a window between when your monthly statement becomes available and when your bill is due to pay with no interest.

2. If your balance is up to 30% of your credit limit and you pay in full monthly:

You should simply pay your bill by the due date listed on your monthly statement. This will help you avoid credit score damage, and you will also avoid interest charges if you pay the full balance every month.

3. If your balance is more than 30% of your credit limit:

If the balance listed on your monthly credit card statements consistently equals more than 30% of the card’s credit limit, consider paying your bill multiple times per month. Paying once in the middle of the month and again before the due date will reduce the balance listed on your statement. That, in turn, will lower your credit utilization, which should help your credit score.

Here’s a quick example. Say you have a credit card with a limit of $1,000 and you charge $500 to it, using up 50% of your credit. Then, you make a payment of $300 before the billing period closes and your statement is generated. That brings your statement balance to $200 and your utilization to 20%. Paying off the final $200 before the due date keeps your account in good standing.

Tips for Not Missing a Credit Card Payment

It’s a good idea to set up automatic payments with your credit card issuer so you don’t have to worry about when to pay your credit card bill. Doing so will automatically make a payment from a linked bank account every month on the due date, or a day of your choice before that. You can’t be marked late unless your account has insufficient funds. And even with automatic payments set up, you can still make additional payments any time you want.

For more advice to help you avoid the cost and aggravation associated with missed payments, you can take a look at WalletHub’s tips for never missing a due date.

A credit card billing cycle is the period of time between two credit card statements, usually lasting 28-31 days. On the last day of a credit card’s billing cycle – also known as the closing date –the card’s issuer will compile the account’s billing statement. This includes a bill for all the charges made to your account during that billing cycle, minus any payments made. You can find the starting and ending dates for your credit card’s billing cycle on your monthly statement.... read full answer

Understanding your credit card’s billing cycle is important for a few reasons. First, it’s important because your statement balance – the amount you have to pay by the due date to avoid interest – is comprised of purchases made during the billing cycle. The statement balance also gets reported to credit bureaus each month and factors into your credit utilization.

Secondly, the start and end of a billing cycle determine when you have to pay for a given purchase or fee. For example, if you purchase a big TV the day before your statement closing date, you’ll owe that money on your next due date – usually about 25 days later, or however long your grace period is. However, if you buy the TV the day after your statement closing date, it will land on the next statement. So you won’t have to pay for the TV until that statement’s due date, which could be 50 or so days later. For those budgeting out big purchases, timing the purchase to get an extra few weeks to pay can make a huge difference.

Billing cycles are also important if you are taking advantage of a 0% APR intro period. These zero-interest periods are sometimes measured in billing cycles, rather than months. This difference can be worth calculating if the billing cycle is shorter than a typical month, and you are tracking how much time you have to pay off a purchase before the promotional APR period ends.

Yes, if you pay your credit card early, you can use it again. You can use a credit card whenever there’s enough credit available to complete a purchase. Your available credit decreases by the amount of any purchase you make and increases by the amount of any payment. So paying your credit card bill early (and often) can help you avoid ... read full answermaxing out your spending limit and having a purchase get declined. It will also reduce your credit utilization, which is good for your credit score. And it will save you a lot of money on interest. Let’s do a quick example.

Imagine your credit line is $1,000, and you make a $300 purchase. Your available credit goes down from $1,000 to $700. You could make up to $700 more in purchases at this point. But that wouldn’t be the best idea because using more than 30% of your credit line can hurt your credit. That’s where paying your bill early comes in. You have the right to make a credit card payment at any time. So if you were to pay off the $300 you spent, without spending any more, your available credit would go back to $1,000.

Now, it’s important to think about the schedule for credit card payments. Once your billing cycle closes, there is usually a grace period of 21 days or more until your due date, during which you can pay off your purchases without incurring interest.

You’re completely allowed to use your credit card during the grace period. Any purchases you make after your closing date are part of the next billing cycle, not the current one. But if you don’t pay the full balance listed on your statement, you’ll lose the grace period. That means you won’t get 21+ days between the close of your next billing cycle and your due date before interest kicks in. It will start accruing right away.

Long story short, paying your credit card early will let you use it again, assuming you have little-to-no available credit to start with. It can also improve your credit utilization. Just make sure you remember to pay your full statement balance by the due date, or else you may rack up some interest charges.