Credit Tips: What is the Average Credit Card Grace Period?

Posted On: October 1, 2006

Author: Guest
Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 6:56 pm
Post subject: Grace Period

Last year Bank One Visa cut my grace period from 25 days to 20 days. This means from the time I receive a statement until I need to write a check and mail it, I have maybe 7 days. So, I cut my use of BankOne Visa from $15,000.00 per year to $0.00 per year. MBNA and DISCOVER, both with 25+ days grace period get my business now.

Similarly, I cancelled my AMEX gold card after 24+ years with AMEX. The statement showed only 15 days grace, although a call to AMEX indicated per the cardmember agreement I had 30 days. But I go by the statement, not some long lost cardmember agreement.

I travel a lot for business and pleasure; if the card only has approximately 7 days for me to pay it is unusable as a travel product.

My Point: I never carry any balance on any card; a low interest rate is appealing, a 30+ day grace period is what I really need.

Author: Verne
Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 7:23 pm
Post subject: What is the Average Credit Card Grace Period?

One possible solution is to set up automatic bill paying either with your bank or the credit card. All of my credit card bills are paid automatically about 5 days after the statement date and well before the due date.

I like to use my bank’s epay service since the credit cards get a little gimmicky - the default payment is usually the minimum 2 days before the due date. (the agreement says you will still be responsible for any late payments if this somehow fails)

With my bank’s bill paying service I set up a recurring payment that more than covers the minimum with a date of my choosing. I could be in a coma for several months (how would anyone tell?) and all the bills would be paid.

Author: Polonius
Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 11:36 pm
Post subject: What is the Average Credit Card Grace Period?

You don’t have to wait for your statements to arrive. Find out the amounts on line and pay them online too, as Verne says. I do online banking with Citibank and Wells Fargo–both pay all major charge cards electronically, so if a card has a due date of Wednesday at 1 PM I just schedule payment on Monday–the payment posts to my account some time on Tuesday and I’m safe.

Also, I think that the Gold Amex card just has a “suggested” payment due date; if your payment arrives before the next statement closing date, you’re OK regardless of the due date stated on the statement you receive. That’s NOT true of the other Amex cards, like Optima or the Cash Rebate cards. The Gold card similarly has no firm upper limit either.

But I hear what you’re saying. What bugs me are the statements I get showing the statement closing date a week before the postmark on the envelope containing the statement! Looks like banks will do anything to trap you these days.