How to Check and Understand all the Details of your Credit Card Statement?
Credit card statement is a monthly summary generated at the end of each month’s billing cycle. It contains every detail regarding their card’s use, interest rate, fees, due date, etc. Cardholders should familiarise themselves with the statement so that they can understand and manage their finances better, and can point out any discrepancies in its entry.
How to check and understand a card statement –
Credit card statements include all the relevant details of that particular financial tool. However, going through and understanding this information can prove challenging, especially for new cardholders. It is common amongst users to check only the due date and due amount and skip the rest of the details, but such practices can prove costly in the long run especially if there has been fraudulent activity on their credit card account. Statements can also help an individual utilize their credit card to its fullest extent.
Following are some of the essential details a user should check in his or her card’s statement.
- Statement date –
The statement date is the date when a credit card statement is generated. This date is also used as the first day from when interest is calculated if a borrower fails to make the payment within a given due date.
- Payment due date –
Payment due date is the last date to repay the outstanding debt. A borrower can pay the billed amount via an electronic transaction, or they can automatically pay the due with a centralized clearing service (like NACH) that is made for repetitive and periodic payments.
- Total outstanding amount –
The total outstanding amount in your credit card statement represents the aggregated due amount you have borrowed from the financial intuition. These include total credit availed, interest fees and also charges like late payments fees, previous months carryover balance, etc. Ideally, a borrower should pay the total outstanding amount within a given due date.
- Minimum due amount –
Credit card companies allow their customers to pay a minimum due amount instead of paying the full due every month. It is a fraction of the total outstanding amount, generally ranging from 2.5% to 20%. A borrower will not have to pay any late payment fees if he or she decides to pay only the minimum due amount. However, interest will be calculated on the remaining outstanding amount as long as it is not paid off.
- Credit limit –
The credit limit is the maximum amount of money you can borrow or spend using your credit card. A financial institution issues a certain credit limit against an account whenever issuing a new card.
A credit card statement generally carries 3 types of credit limit details.
- Total credit limit – The amount sanctioned by the lender on that particular credit card.
- Available credit limit – The amount of credit left before that card statement was generated. The borrower can utilize this amount before the bill is paid.
- Available cash limit – Certain credit cards like Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank SuperCard allows a cardholder to withdraw cash from an ATM along with an interest-free period of 90 days. The limit of cash that can be withdrawn shows in the available cash limit.
Available cash limit is shown in the statements of only the best credit cards in India that offers the unique facility.
Bajaj Finserv also provides features like pre-approved offers on credit cards, personal loans, home loans, and various other financial products. Such offers help you save time by simplifying the process of availing finance. You only have to share some necessary details online to check your pre-approved offer.
- Transaction details –
It contains the records of the purchases, cash advance, and transactions a cardholder makes with their credit card. It also comprises details like the date, place, and amount of every transaction. One should check this section carefully and tally all their expenses to see that there is no discrepancy in the total amount charged.
- Reward points –
A credit card statement also carries a detailed record of the reward points earned. These details include the points earned in this billing cycle, points carried over from the previous billing cycle, and points that have lapsed.
- Important information –
This section carried information regarding various clauses issued by the credit card companies, payment options, and notifications, any changes to the agreement, and how to ‘hotlist’ lost or stolen cards.
Besides the above-mentioned details, a card’s statement may also contain details about relevant fees, tax rate changes, etc.
Credit card statements carry a lot of important information a cardholder should always be aware of. Fortunately, a thorough understanding is not difficult but vital to ensure that you, like a credit card user, utilizes the credit appropriately to fund the content.
