I have a Truist credit card and I use it for most of my payments. I pay it down to about a $300 balance every two weeks, so I always have a balance between $300 and $1,400. I’ve never been charged interest on that balance. My credit limit is $3,500. I’m not complaining, but why is this happening? I’ve had this card for 7 years. Should I pay it off completely every month instead or keep doing this? Thanks!
You might want to rephrase your question. Instead of asking if you ever have a $0 balance, ask if you pay your full statement balance.
It looks like you are leaving a small balance instead of carrying one. Leaving a small balance means paying the statement balance in full for the month. If you carry a balance, it means you didn’t pay your last statement balance in full, and that’s when interest kicks in.
Your regular payments must be enough to cover the statement balance each time.
You’re paying at or above the amount on your last bill. They look at transactions in the order they happen.
For example,
You get billed for $1,400.
During the month, you pay $1,500 and spend $400.
Your new balance is $300, but you fully paid the $1,400 bill from last month. The new $400 will show up on next month’s statement.
A Chase card shows this with a ‘remaining statement balance’.
As long as you pay the previous statement’s amount, no interest accrues.
Interest is charged on any statement balance not paid by the due date. Since you are making payments more often than needed, you are paying your statement balance on time. The due date gives you a full twenty days to pay.
Since you pay your statement balances, you won’t see any interest charged.
Why are you keeping a balance? Have you checked your APR? You might have a special deal. Yes, you should pay your statement balance every month.
Whitney said:
Why are you keeping a balance? Have you checked your APR? You might have a special deal. Yes, you should pay your statement balance every month.
Just because you have a current balance doesn’t mean you are carrying a balance. Carrying a balance means you didn’t pay your entire statement balance in full before the due date.
OP is making multiple payments so there’s never a statement balance that rolls over past the due date.
If you use your card daily, you’ll always have a current balance, even if you pay your statement balance by the due date.
It sounds like you pay more than your statement balance every month, so you don’t pay any interest. I have cards that have never had a balance lower than a few thousand and I still pay my statement balances each month without any interest.
If you’re using the card often, you’ll always have a leftover balance after paying the month’s statement, but that’s not due until next billing, so you won’t pay interest.
Did you open this card recently? There might have been an introductory 0% interest period. Check your statements closely.
Vicky said:
Did you open this card recently? There might have been an introductory 0% interest period. Check your statements closely.
I’ve had this card for 7 years.
You got your answer, but why do you leave a $300 balance each month?
Should you pay it off completely every month instead?
Look at your statement and pay that amount. Better yet, set it to autopay. Your credit card works like a bill; you probably don’t check your utility bill every two weeks.
Are you doing this to manage your utilization? If so, you should check out some resources on utilization.
@Dax
Here’s some info on utilization and credit scores:
Forget the 10/20/30% utilization rule, it only matters when applying for new credit a few months ahead.
Utilization can change and doesn’t build credit. Think of it as a final touch to optimize your score.
You can use up to 100% of your credit limit each month and just pay off your statement balance before the due date, every month. For more info, check out these posts:
I can comment on demand using this command:
!utilization
I am a bot. Please contact the moderators of this forum if you have questions.
I see so many people complicating this in this forum. Just set it on autopay.
Statement balance isn’t the same as current balance.
You are billed during a set period, then the statement balance is issued. Any balance after that is your current balance, not counted as the statement balance.
The weekly payments you’re making add up to more than your last statement balance. If you keep this up, you might slip up one month and get charged interest.
What’s the difference between statement balance and card balance?
You are paying it off every month, so what interest would there be to charge?
If your bill is $300, then you rack up $1,400 in new charges and pay $1,000 towards it. $300 pays off last month’s balance, and the remaining $700 goes towards the new $1,400 balance. Your next statement will show $700 in new charges.
Maybe you’ve been in a 0% interest period.
If you carry a balance after the intro period, you will incur interest on every new purchase. There won’t be a grace period then.
Look at your statement; there should be a section about interest rates and promo offers. Check the expiration date to get into the habit of paying in full before that date.