Credit card quesstion

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HelloMan

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Hi
Lets say I have a credit card whose due date is 21st of each month. I had certain expenses In feb which I cleared on 20th Feb. So on 21st morning I have nothing due. But if I purchase something on 21st evening, what will happen (as the charges take 1 day to reflect in credit card account)? I think since i have already cleared minimum due by 20th Feb, i do not need to worry.
 
There are two important dates, the due date and the billing or the statement generation date. The due date will be approx 18-22 days after your billing date.

Suppose your statement generation is done on 1st of every month and due date is 20th, then your purchases after Feb 1 will be billed only on Mar 1 and due on Mar 20. And if you make few purchases in Feb but clear all your outstanding dues before the statement is generated ie Mar 1 in this example, the statement will reflect the outstanding as zero.

If you make a purchase on Mar 1, most probably it will come only in the next statement which gets generated on Apr 1 and you will have to pay it only on Apr 20. In this case you will get the close to 55 days to repay the amount.

The interest free credit period varies between 22-55 days depending on your billing cycle and date of purchase.
 
I think you want to know what happens if you make a transaction on the day the bill is generated - whether the transaction gets reflected in the same bill or next bill.. This is usually unreliable. From my experience, it can go either way. You might see the transaction in the same bill, or in the next one. I think it depends on when the statement is actually generated.

BTW, I noticed that you have mentioned having paid the minimum amount due. I am sure you might know this, but clearing just the minimum amount due is the worst way possible to use a credit card. Please always make it a point to clear the entire dues every month.
 
Hi
Lets say I have a credit card whose due date is 21st of each month. I had certain expenses In feb which I cleared on 20th Feb. So on 21st morning I have nothing due. But if I purchase something on 21st evening, what will happen (as the charges take 1 day to reflect in credit card account)? I think since i have already cleared minimum due by 20th Feb, i do not need to worry.

That is dangerous. Paying the minimum due - which is usually 5% of the outstanding, doesn't exempt one from the interest rate. So in this scenario, you pay MONTHLY interest which is anywhere between 2.5% and 3.5% on the balance amount + any future transactions till you pay the entire outstanding.

If however you have paid the full amount a day before or on the due date, and made another transaction, like @logistopath said, it can go either way. However, I have noticed that most banks use the payment date and not the payment reflection date when considering this. This is only for NEFTs / bank transfers etc. I am not sure about cheque deposits as I haven't done those.
 
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Keep in mind that we now have a credit reporting agency.
Not clearing the whole balance on a cc can mess up terms for any future credit you might seek (cards/loans).
 
OK, this is a little confusing but my exact question is this:
My due date is 21st feb. I had total outstanding of 5k to be cleared by 21st feb & i cleared whole 5k by 20th feb. Now i made another purchase of 1k on 21st feb afternoon. What will happen? The charges take 1day to reflect on my account so by the end of 21sr feb, i see that it shows 0 outstanding, whereas in reality it should be 1k outstanding. DO i need to clear this additional 1k by 21st feb or can i clear it later on?
 
OK, this is a little confusing but my exact question is this:
My due date is 21st feb. I had total outstanding of 5k to be cleared by 21st feb & i cleared whole 5k by 20th feb. Now i made another purchase of 1k on 21st feb afternoon. What will happen? The charges take 1day to reflect on my account so by the end of 21sr feb, i see that it shows 0 outstanding, whereas in reality it should be 1k outstanding. DO i need to clear this additional 1k by 21st feb or can i clear it later on?

21st Feb is due date for a bill which probably was generated 15 days back. So in gist, your 1K that you did transaction on 21st Feb will come in next bill while should be probably due by 21st March or somewhere around.
 
This is something i have always being confused at using HDFC credit Card and there online is pathetic as hell does not shows the break up correctly
 
OK, this is a little confusing but my exact question is this:
My due date is 21st feb. I had total outstanding of 5k to be cleared by 21st feb & i cleared whole 5k by 20th feb. Now i made another purchase of 1k on 21st feb afternoon. What will happen? The charges take 1day to reflect on my account so by the end of 21sr feb, i see that it shows 0 outstanding, whereas in reality it should be 1k outstanding. DO i need to clear this additional 1k by 21st feb or can i clear it later on?

Since you have cleared all outstanding dues on 20th Feb, the system reads your opening balance as 'Zero' on 21st Feb. Now, your 1K purchase on 21st Feb will be reflected in next billing cycle starting from Feb 22nd with opening balance as 1K.
 
Since you have cleared all outstanding dues on 20th Feb, the system reads your opening balance as 'Zero' on 21st Feb. Now, your 1K purchase on 21st Feb will be reflected in next billing cycle starting from Feb 22nd with opening balance as 1K.

I guess you and the OP are confusing the billing date and due date. Both are different as I have explained in my earlier post.
 
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