Personal Consumer Issues • When CC accounts report balance?

I see some conflicting answer to the question: when is the account balance reported to the credit report agencies and which balance (current or last statement). So I pulled up my credit report on Experian and looked at the report dates for each account and compared to the due dates and closing dates. (Pardon my inability to format the columns).

Report Due Closing
Citi 14th 13th 17th
Chase 14th 12th 15th
US Bank 29th 11th 15th

So this answered the first part of question: the report date has nothing to do with statement closing date. My interpretation of the second question (which balance is reported) is that it would not always be your statement balance on your last closing date. So for my Citi and Chase, that's no big deal because I always pay the full amount before due date, so when they report, it will either be my last statement balance, or my current balance, which reflects a nearly full statement period of spending. But for US Bank, if the current balance is reported, that would be significantly higher than my average monthly spending.

For some Bogleheads, that may mean you can manipulate your statement dates and pay pattern to minimize your credit utilization. What do you think?

Statistics: Posted by hedge_hog88 — Sun Jun 02, 2024 4:32 pm — Replies 2 — Views 234

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