Positive Credit Reference

I think if you pay it off immediately, then your balance for that month will still be reported as zero, so I would wait until you get the bill, then pay the total amount owing at the bottom at least 3 days before the due date.

Are you worried that if you don't pay it off immediately you'll spend the cash you put on one side to pay the bill? Or are you worried about being charged interest? You may have some misconceptions that should be fairly easy to address.

Thanks for your reply.

Yeah this is what I was thinking so wanted to get a firm yes or no.

I am merely worried about paying interest on purcahses since I would never normally use my credit card and the most obvious way to overcome this is pay the value into my credit card account on the day i make the purchase. But if we find your thoughts above to be true then I'll have to wait for the bill.

Anyone know for definite?

TIA

Using a credit card is definitely a good idea to build up a good credit score, but only if you always pay on time. Therefore, always set up a direct debit for at least the mimimum amount. Then if you won't be forgetting to pay. If you set it up always to take the full amount you won't have to pay interest either. Don't be paranoid about the interest. Just always pay in full by the due date.

Rob Graham

But do I get a positive effect on my credit file if I pay off my credit card before I get my bill?

TIA

X-No-Archive: yes In message , elziko writes

Pay As You Go disposable credit cards seem to be all the rage now. But you can't use them for card holder present purchases. IIR, that's set to change.

You wont pay any interest as long as you pay your credit card bill off by the due date. Thats how credit cards work. In general this gives you 4-6 weeks on interest free credit. For example, buy something on 1 Sep for 100, get bill for 100 on Sep 20th, pay 100 bill by due date, say Oct 10. Your worries are needless as long as you pay it off in full in good time.

Set up a direct debit to pay the full amount off your card. I do this and never pay interest. You also should /never/ use your card to withdraw cash.

Apparently just using a credit card helps build your credit record. I think the companies keep the actual rating calculation secret, so it's unclear whether they prefer a balance which is infrequently payed off (except financially for them).

I thought you would have this misconception- aren't I good at reading between the lines.

You wouldn't incur interest if you waited for the bill providing the full balance at the botom of the bill reaches your card before the due date. I never pay any interest on my credit cards and use them in this way. The main difference would be for withdrawing cash from a cash machine- interest would be charged on that from when you do it. Personally I never do!

If you're nervous you could pay off the card as soon as you get the bill but this won't give you any particular advantage. As someone else pointed out you can set up a direct debit to make sure the full payment is made- then you don't have to worry about making payment.

In message , Biscit writes

The other thing is those credit card cheque things, which tend to get treated as cash, Falihax used to send me some occasionally until I registered never to receive them again (we will have to see how long never is).

Why not just have the credit card bill automatically paid in full each month by direct debit?

Chris

I'm having just that problem right now trying to get a refund on an unused air ticket. I purchased it as an electronic ticket online using a Cahoot Webcard, but to get a refund the airline wants to see the actual credit card with the same number as was used for the to purchase.

Just try explaining to someone in a Thai Airways ticket office here in Bangkok what a Cahoot Webcard is when they don't have the equivalent type of system here.

Chris

At 14:17:16 on 08/11/2005, elziko delighted uk.finance by announcing:

Just use it regularly and pay in full each month by direct debit.

At 16:38:48 on 08/11/2005, elziko delighted uk.finance by announcing:

No. This information is not recorded. Only the fact that you paid by the due date is relevant (or the fact that you missed it, or are in default etc.)

" snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net" wrote

They very often get treated as balance transfers - and cheap ones at that. Card companies often send them saying "you'll get a low balance transfer rate of only 2.9% / 4.9% / 5.9% pa if you use these cheques by such-and-such a date".

"Tumbleweed" wrote

Not necessarily! Some CCs will charge interest from the day of purchase, even if you pay it off in full. Even some reputable companies cards do this. I agree that probably *most* cards work the way you state...

Its hard to see why anyone would take such a card. I suppose there is always the exception, but can you name one?

At 17:57:53 on 09/11/2005, Tim delighted uk.finance by announcing:

Only if they're balance transfer cheques.

I think with my card (NatWest) I can only elect to do a direct debit for the minumum amount. I'll look into this though because this would be the easiest way.