Joined Jan 2007
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Forum Thread
Citi Card applying credits but not debits to previous statement balance
August 31, 2022 at
04:12 PM
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Last Edited by MadPup September 12, 2022 at 04:24 PM
I've been using credit cards since the dark ages but learned something new today...
Say, for instance, your CC billing cycle ends on the first day of each new month and your auto-payment date is set for the 15th of the month. Any credits that come in before the 15th are applied to the statement balance for the previous month. As an example...
My statement for July is $1000 and on the 4th of August I buy something for $700. I return the item immediately and get a refund that hits my account on the 10th of August. On the 15th of August my auto-payment triggers for $300 even though my balance at that time was $1500. So on August 16th I'm looking at a balance of $1200 and wondering WTF is going on that it's so high mid-month?
I had to get this explained to me by my CC company (CitiCard - Costco) who told me that all credit cards work this way.
Meanwhile my credit score got dinged because of the increase usage of credit caused by this issue.
Say, for instance, your CC billing cycle ends on the first day of each new month and your auto-payment date is set for the 15th of the month. Any credits that come in before the 15th are applied to the statement balance for the previous month. As an example...
My statement for July is $1000 and on the 4th of August I buy something for $700. I return the item immediately and get a refund that hits my account on the 10th of August. On the 15th of August my auto-payment triggers for $300 even though my balance at that time was $1500. So on August 16th I'm looking at a balance of $1200 and wondering WTF is going on that it's so high mid-month?
I had to get this explained to me by my CC company (CitiCard - Costco) who told me that all credit cards work this way. Meanwhile my credit score got dinged because of the increase usage of credit caused by this issue.
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If I made a payment before the due date, it came off the current charges and full statement balance was still due on the due date.
If I made a payment before the due date, it came off the current charges and full statement balance was still due on the due date.
If I made a payment before the due date, it came off the current charges and full statement balance was still due on the due date.
I had the Capital Rewards card. If I made a payment before the due date, it came off the current charges. Statement due date was still due on the due date.
I had the Capital Rewards card. If I made a payment before the due date, it came off the current charges. Statement due date was still due on the due date.
It happened like this...
I got an email on the 1st of the month saying that my statement was ready and that it will be paid automatically on the 15th. I reviewed the statement and it looked good. On the first of the next month I got a new statement but this time it's way higher than expected. I challenge anyone to look at that statement and easily figure out why. The only obvious clue is that on the 15th of the month the auto-payment was for less than expected. It's still not obvious to me why credits are applied to the payment amount yet debits are not. I think it's fair to call customer service to ask for clarification (my first call in years) because that's what they are there for. It even took the guy 5 minutes to figure it out so it's not like it was a "duh!" question.
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08/04: Purchase $700
08/10: Return Amount in the account -$700
08/15: Auto Payment Pay $300
(July Balance $1,000 - Credit Amount -$700)
08/15: Account Balance $1,500
08/16: Account Balance $1,200
To consider any credit amount, it is not counting the purchase for same amount was made in between.
But at the end, if your balance as of 08/16 all the amounts are accurate and shows correctly in the statement as of end of August, and you don't have to pay interest fee, it should be fine.
To your question, I learned that usually the processing credit card transactions is not actual real time and some time need to wait and see from couple of days to next statement.
Hope it help.
I think the credit card system calculating the balance as of date of payment has error. Because it seems it is taking any credit amount as of date of payment against the last balance statement.
To consider any credit amount, it is not counting the purchase for same amount was made in between.
But at the end, if your balance as of 08/16 all the amounts are accurate and shows correctly in the statement as of end of August, and you don't have to pay interest fee, it should be fine.
To your question, I learned that usually the processing credit card transactions is not actual real time and some time need to wait and see from couple of days to next statement.
Hope it help.
And BTW, I forgot to mention that my credit score got dinged because of the increase of credit usage caused by this issue.
For example, statement closes on the 30th -you go out, buy a $1000 TV then immediately return it - the $1k credit (return) is "counted" as a payment of sorts against the prior statement. In the end, it will all wash out because the $1k credit will be balanced out by the $1k purchase (so you'll get the credit in the prior statement but then owe $1k the following statement).