Managing your credit card account and overall expenses becomes easier if you become cautious about important dates. Yes, your credit card is associated with some significant dates. If you pay before those dates, you can save yourself from interest charges.
However, you might have heard of the credit card closing date. Your credit card account’s closing date is the final day of your billing cycle. What does that mean? We will cover everything associated with your credit card’s closing date.
In addition, you will get relevant information regarding your credit card’s payment due date. Balancing payments between these dates can help you avoid extra charges, save money, and maintain a good credit score. Let’s get started with the credit card account closing date.
A Quick Definition of Credit Card Closing Date
A credit card closing date is the last day of your credit card’s monthly billing cycle. This means that any purchases made after the credit card account’s closing date will appear on the next month’s credit card statement. Your credit card issuing company also evaluates your interest charges on this closing date.
Hence, any charges incurred to your credit card account after the closing date will be transferred to the next month’s billing cycle. How long does your credit card’s billing cycle last?
Most credit card issuers conduct a credit card closing date with an interval of 28 to 31 days. Keep in mind that the closing date of your credit card account can vary each month. However, the date can’t vary by more than 4 days.
On the other hand, many credit cards offer a grace period of up to 25 days between the credit card closing date and the payment due date. Still, this is optional for credit card companies. However, you must understand the credit card closing date vs. due date conflict to avoid extra charges. We will discuss that later, too.
Well, what is the next closing date of your credit card account? It’s the upcoming date your credit card issuer seals the corresponding billing cycle. The ongoing billing cycle will end on this day, and a new billing cycle will initiate after the ‘next closing date’.
Ways to Find Your Credit Card’s Closing Date
Fortunately, you can discover your credit card closing date using multiple ways. No matter which credit card you use, you can use any of the following methods to discover the next credit card closing date:
- Look for the billing period on your credit card account. Typically, it should mention a date range, which is almost a month. For example, it can resemble ‘02/10/2024 – 03/09/2024’. The latter date mentioned in this range is your credit card closing date.
- Another way to find the closing date is to inspect the statement balance of your credit card account. You can visit your account overview page or download the monthly statement of the credit card account. Now, pay attention to the date mentioned alongside your statement balance. That’s your credit card statement closing date.
- Some credit card companies clearly label closing dates on the credit card statement, and you can easily spot it.
Significance of Knowing Your Credit Card Closing Date
Why is your credit card closing date important? Generally, the closing date indicates the endpoint of the ongoing billing cycle. Now, this date is capable of impacting your credit card usage. Here’s why you should learn about your credit card closing date:
Track Statement Balance
Your credit card statement on the closing date lets you know your new statement balance. So, you can notice any new charges included during the past billing cycle.
Additionally, it includes any remaining unpaid balance from earlier statements. You must pay this balance in full by the next payment due date. Otherwise, the credit card company will add interest charges to the remaining statement balance.
Get Rewards
Do you own a rewarding credit card? If yes, then knowing your credit card closing date will benefit you in many ways. After all, new rewards are calculated and added to your credit card account on the closing date. Therefore, you can redeem those earned rewards, cashback options, and more in your next purchases.
Monitor Credit Utilisation
Do you know that credit card companies report your credit reports to prime credit bureaus on this closing date? Hence, paying your credit card account regularly and keeping track of your closing date can help you improve your credit score. Reportedly, your credit card records account for almost 30% of your credit score.
Difference Between a Closing Date vs. Payment Due Date
Most credit card account holders need clarification over the closing date vs. due date conflict. As you already know, the credit card closing date is the last day of your card’s monthly billing cycle. Moreover, you can expect your credit card statement to arrive within 3 days from the closing date.
The payment due date or due date refers to the timeline when you are expected to pay the minimum payment, at least from the credit card statement. Paying before or on the payment due date can save you from facing late fees. In addition, you won’t encounter negative impacts on your credit report.
When is the payment due date for your credit card account? The due date is typically between 21 and 30 days after the closing date of your credit card account. Furthermore, the due date remains unchanged in every statement period. Where can you find the credit card payment due date? You can find the due date on your credit card statement.
On a related note, you can earn a grace period if you pay the entire statement balance by the due date. The grace period will come into effect between the closing and payment due dates. In addition, the credit card company will assign interest charges on the unpaid amount if you pay less than or equal to the minimum payment mentioned.
For your information, the credit card statement closing date can impact your credit utilisation ratio. On the other hand, your credit card due date can affect your credit score if you pay less than the minimum amount.
Consequences of Using Your Credit Card on The Statement Closing Date
Can you use your credit card on the closing date? Such thoughts are intrusive among almost every credit card account holder. Any transaction after the credit card closing date goes into the next billing cycle, not the current one.
Let’s understand the situation with an example. Suppose you have purchased an item with your credit card on the closing date. Generally, any transaction with credit cards takes a business day to complete. So, the transaction remains pending on the closing date.
Then, your statement balance will be affected by this transaction in the upcoming billing cycle.
Can You Change Your Credit Card Due Date?
Most credit card issuers wish to cooperate with you as long as you intend to make regular and on-time payments towards your credit card account. That’s why you can get a chance to shift your credit card due date from one date to another of the statement period.
How can you change the credit card’s due date? You can contact the credit card company’s customer service agent, who can guide you through the procedure. Otherwise, you can sign into your credit card account online and look for options to change the due date.
However, the latter method only applies if the credit card issuer allows you to change the payment due date online. Additionally, the credit card account can take up to 2 billing cycles to adopt the new desired due date.
When Should You Pay Your Credit Card?
You might be thinking about when you should pay to your credit card account, whether it’s the closing date or the payment due date. According to experts, paying your credit card by the due date is best. Make sure that you pay the minimum amount or more by the credit card payment due date.
You can even enable automatic payments to avoid late fees and more. You should devise a budget to save you a suitable amount to pay to your credit card account for an improved credit score.
