What Is a Credit Card Closing Date?

Sometimes called the statement closing date, it's the last day of your billing cycle, when your monthly balance is calculated.
Jaime Hanson
By Jaime Hanson 
Published
Edited by Erin Hurd

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Every month, for each credit card in your wallet, you’re issued a monthly statement detailing the transactions charged over that month and the total balance due. For most credit card accounts, though, the monthly statement doesn’t directly coincide with a calendar month. Instead, each statement has a billing cycle between 28 and 31 days.

The transition point between billing cycles can happen at any point during a calendar month, and it’s typically set based on when you opened the credit card. The credit card closing date is the last day of a credit card billing cycle.

Here’s a look at how to determine your credit card closing date, why it differs from the payment due date and how this date impacts your monthly cash flow, credit score and even the rewards you earn.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Even if you have multiple credit cards from the same issuer, it’s unlikely that the cards will have the same closing date.

How to find your credit card closing date

Regardless of which credit card you hold, you can find the statement closing date either on your mailed statement, within your credit card’s online account or on the PDF statement available through your online account. The information may be listed in one of a few ways. Here’s what to look for:

  • Billing period. You’ll usually see this as a date range spanning about one month — something like “02/21/2023 - 03/20/2023’’. The ending number of that date range is your credit card closing date.

  • Statement balance. Either on your account overview page, on the payment tab or your statement, you may see a statement balance listed along with a date. That date listed alongside your statement balance is the statement closing date.

  • Statement closing date. In some cases, the closing date will be clearly labeled as such, often alongside a payment due date between 21 and 30 days later.

🤓Nerdy Tip

If the default credit card closing date on your account isn’t ideal for your monthly budget, you can usually change it. Just contact your card issuer’s customer service to ask for a date that better aligns with your paycheck schedule.

Why your credit card closing date matters

Your credit card closing date signals the end of a billing cycle — an important marker that impacts your credit card usage in several ways. Here are the top factors affected by your credit card closing date.

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  • Statement balance: Your new statement balance is the total amount outstanding on your credit card as of the closing date. This includes any new charges made during the previous billing cycle plus any remaining unpaid balance of earlier statements. If you don’t pay this balance in full by your next payment due date, your issuer will charge interest on the remaining statement balance.

  • Credit utilization: Credit card companies typically report credit utilization to the major credit bureaus at the end of each billing cycle or on the statement closing date. This is significant, accounting for about 30% of your credit score.

  • Rewards: For most rewards-earning credit cards, the points or cash back you earn are calculated at the close of each billing cycle and awarded afterward. However, some cards issue near-instant rewards after making a purchase, so you don’t have to wait until the end of your billing cycle.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Some recurring credit card perks reset with a new billing cycle, but others follow the calendar month — no matter when your card’s statement closes. So make sure you’re clear on your card’s terms. For example, the Citi Custom Cash® Card offers 5% cash back on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent. Since the statement closing date marks the end of a billing cycle, it also serves as the reset date for that custom category. On the other hand, the American Express® Gold Card, for example, issues dining credits that reset at the beginning of each calendar month.

Closing date vs. payment due date: What’s the difference?

  • The statement closing date is the end date of your billing cycle. It’s when the credit card issuer calculates your statement balance and the minimum payment due. Charges incurred after the closing date will appear on the following month’s statement.

  • The payment due date, as the name suggests, is when you’re expected to pay at least the minimum payment from that statement to avoid a late fee or potentially negative impacts on your credit report. It’s typically between 21 and 30 days after your statement closing date and can also be found on your credit card statement.

As long as you pay the full statement balance by the payment due date each month, a grace period goes into effect between your statement closing date and the due date. As a result, as long as you’re not carrying a balance from month to month, you’ll never be charged interest on credit card purchases. On the other hand, if you make only the minimum payment—or anything less than the full statement balance—you’ll be hit with interest charges on the unpaid amount.

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Frequently asked questions

Most credit card issuers will allow you to change your statement closing date by contacting customer service, either by calling the number on the back of your card or through the chat feature within your online account.

Changing your credit card closing date may be beneficial if you need to line up payment dates with your paycheck or to help you juggle payments on multiple cards. That's because if you change the closing date, the payment due date will also shift.

In short, no. Your credit card payment isn’t due until the payment due date, typically between 21 and 30 days after the closing date for a given statement. The one exception to this rule is if you’re looking to reduce your credit utilization to improve your credit score.

Transactions that are processed up to and including the date that your billing period ends (i.e., the statement closing date) are included in the statement balance for that billing period.

If you make a purchase on the statement closing date, though, it’s possible that the transaction amount won’t show up until the following statement. That’s because charges on your credit card typically list as “pending” for around 24 hours after the purchase, sometimes longer. Any pending charge at the time of statement closing will roll over to the following billing cycle.

Your credit card payment is not due on the statement closing date. Instead, there is a delay of 21 to 30 days between the closing date and the payment due date. If you pay your credit card balance in full this month, a grace period may go into effect to help you avoid being charged interest during that time.

If you typically carry a balance on your credit card from month to month, though, the grace period will not apply.

Simply put, you need to pay your credit card bill by the payment due date. Paying early can help reduce your credit utilization, but it’s unnecessary to prevent interest if you consistently pay in full.

If you tend to carry a credit card balance from month to month but have an opportunity to pay early, doing so could help you save on interest. Just ensure that doing so won’t put you behind on other payments.

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