Making use of interest-free days
Let’s assume you have a credit card that offers “up to 55 interest-free days” and its billing cycle begins on the 1st of each month and ends on the 30th. Given the 55 interest-free days, the due date on your credit card statement would be the 25th of next month. So if you were making purchases in June, here’s how it would look:- 1st June. First day of the statement
- 30th June. Last day of the statement
- 25th July. Due date of your payment for June
In this case, the 55 interest-free days begin on 1st June and end on the 25th July when your payment is due. So here’s how your interest-free period would work as you make purchases throughout the month:
- You make a £100 purchase on 1st June. You don’t have to pay any interest towards this purchase until 25th July, which gives you 55 interest-free days.
- You make a £50 purchase on 20th June. This is the 20th day of your billing cycle, so you don’t have to pay any interest towards the purchase until 25th July. This means you get 35 interest-free days.
- You make a £150 purchase on 30th June. This is the last day of your billing cycle but the purchase won’t attract any interest until 25th July, giving you an interest-free period of 25 days.
When your statement is issued for June, you’ll owe £300. So as long as you pay this in full by the 25th July, you won’t be charged interest on your purchases and can continue to enjoy interest-free days for the next billing cycle.