What is a credit card statement?

A credit card statement is a document sent by a credit card issuer once per month detailing the cardholder’s account activity, including payments made toward the account balance, purchases, balance transfers, cash advances, and fees and interest charges incurred. Credit card statements also show the cardholder’s new balance, previous balance, available credit, and any past-due amounts. A credit card’s account number, payment due date, grace period, and interest rate are all listed on its monthly statement, too.

In other words, a statement is a periodic summary of a credit card account’s key information. True to that, your credit card statement - also called a billing statement - is filled with valuable information about paying off your balance. It will detail any fees or penalty rates you’ll incur for paying late, and you’ll be able to see how long it will take you to pay off your balance by only paying the minimum.

Usually, the statement will include a payment coupon that you can fill out if you want to pay your bill by mail or in person. The statement will also list any changes to your account terms since the last billing cycle.

Traditionally, credit card statements have been physically mailed to cardholders. But many card issuers have a “paperless” option now that gives access to all credit card statements online.

A credit card statement is a monthly notice from a credit card issuer that summarizes the status of a credit card account. It includes information on the charges made to the account since the previous statement date, along with the total balance outstanding, how much the cardholder is required to pay and more. A credit card statement also contains important information about the card’s terms and how interest accumulates.

You’ll get a credit card statement in the mail each month by default. But if you’d rather cut down on the paper, most credit card issuers should let you get your statement electronically instead.

Here’s what is in a credit card statement:

• Summary of monthly transactions (purchases, balance transfers, cash advances, etc.)
• Previous balance and any payments made since the last statement
• Current balance outstanding
• Minimum payment due on the outstanding balance
• Due date for the minimum payment
• Warning about the penalty for paying late
• Estimate of how long it takes to pay off the current balance by making only the minimum payment each month (assuming no new charges)
• Estimate of how much you’d have to pay per month to pay off the current balance in 3 years (assuming no new charges)
• Information on how interest and the minimum payment are calculated
• Warnings about any upcoming changes to your account terms
• The total amount of interest and fees you’ve paid so far this year