My bill came for my first credit card, and I have a question. I checked it online and my current balance is a little higher than the balance. My question is do I pay the balance or do I have to pay the full current balance. I just want to do what would be considered paying it off for the month, but still not have to pay more than I have too at one time. HELP

 

I would say your current balance on the web is the balance on your statement plus the interest it incurred while the statement was in the mail. To pay it off in full you would have to pay what it shows on the web as your current balance.

ie; you get a statement on the 1st for 1000.00 due on the 15th. You send a check on the 13th for 1000.00. By the time they recieve it and accounts recievables inputs it you have accrued a couple weeks of interest so even if you didn't use your card again the next month you would get a statement owing that interest.

 

The online balance will include all purchases etc. made after the cycle cutoff date. If its a 0% then yes it will also possibly show what the balance is with all interest accrued.
If you wanna be 100% positive to not have any charges or late fees, pay the online balance but you only HAVE TO pay the paper balance to not have any late fees or interest if you PAY IT IN FULL.
EX: my online balance today is 1140, but my paper balance or statement balance was only 1040, this means I have spent another 100 after my statement cut. In turn I do not have to pay that 100 until next statement, to avoid interest, but I can pay it if I choose to.

If you have anything else, IM me, madcat6183.

 

I forgot to add that "sometimes" you can pay off what shows on the statement and when you get your next one with just the amount of the interest on it you can call and get that removed. My wife does it now and then but it's a hit-miss kind of thing. I don't think they're obligated to do that but sometimes do to keep a good customer.

edit: good point on the part about new purchases. I forgot about that.

 

I work in the credit card industry .. and most (not all) have a 20-25 day grace period that is interest free. If you pay the full balance showing on your statement when you get it. You will not accrue any interest on that money. They do this because 98% of the people out there with a credit card do not pay it off every month. If you do not pay the full amount by the end of the grace period, any money left owing will have interest applied from the day they cut you your statement. Hope that helps.

 

The difference between the balance on the statement u got in the mail and the balance online is probably items you purchased with the card after the paper statement got printed. If you pay what is the balance on the paper statement by the due date u shouldnt have to pay any interest or get hit with any late charges.

 

The balance shown on your mailing bill is the amount you charged up during the specified period. Pay that amount, and you won't get charged any interest.

 

Paying in full means paying the New Balance on the paper statement you receive. I've been doing this for 18+ years on 4 different cards and never had interest charges to pay. The difference between your statement and online totals would be any new charges you made with your card after your statement was sent. Look at your statement, it should have a date that they call a closing date/statement date/billing date or something along those lines. This date is the last day that new charges will appear on that particular bill. Now look at your charges online, any charges dated after this closing date will appear on your next statement. You will not be charged interest on those transactions as long as you pay your New Balance in full next month too.