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Everyone who has a credit card has one thing in common, we all receive a statement every month. Whether it is delivered electronically or by postal mail, every credit card statement follows roughly the same format. Nevertheless, there is a lot of information presented on these statements, and it can be confusing to many credit card users.
Let’s take a look at what makes up these statements, and figure out what you need to pay the most attention to.
The first thing that you will likely see at the top of page one of any credit card statement is the payment information. This will include three lines:
Here you will find a lot more information about how your balance breaks down, including your previous balance, payments, credits, cash advances, balance transfers, fees and interest charges. You will also see information about your credit limit and available credit for both purchases and cash advances.
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This section will explain what will happen to your account if you do not make at least the minimum payment by the due date. The stated consequences typically include a late fee and an increase in the interest rate to a higher penalty interest rate.
This interesting section actually details how long it will take and how much you will pay if you make only the minimum payment. In addition, there is also an estimate of how much you would have to pay each month in order to pay off the entire current balance in three years, and how much interest you can save by doing so instead of making only the minimum payment. This is also where card issuers may offer a phone number to contact a credit counseling agency.
Here is a list of payments and credits during the statement period that can include fees and interest charges.
This section lists the interest rates, balance, and interest charges that were applied. Within this section, there are lines for purchases, cash advances and balance transfers, since each separate balance might have its own interest rates and terms.
Here is where you can find the phone number for customer service, payments by phone and the Internet address for the card issuer.
If the card offers rewards, the card issuer will likely present a summary of the rewards earned during the statement period.
The back of each page of the statement often consists of fine print detailing policies related to privacy, disputing charges, reports to credit bureaus, and many other details.
With all of this information present on every credit card statement, what do cardholders need to pay close attention to?
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