What Is a Credit Card Closing Date? 

Knowing your closing date might help you maintain your credit score and standing by providing important information regarding payment deadlines, borrowing behaviors, and reward opportunities.

Here’s how:

• You can better understand your credit report as it changes.
  Your credit report and score usually update at least once a month.³ Your monthly statement may provide scoring models with new balance and payment history information that contributes to those updates. You might be able to understand both positive and negative changes in your credit score by consulting your statement on your closing date. For example, you might attribute a credit score dip to the higher-than-usual credit utilization on your statement.
• You can check statements for accuracy, interest charges, and minimum payments.
  Your statement summarizes all your activity and transactions for the month. When your closing date arrives, you can review your activity for accuracy, confirm your accrued interest charges, and check your minimum payment amount and due date.
• You can try to maximize rewards for more strategic purchases.
  Closing dates can impact the timing of your card’s rewards. Issuers may calculate cash-back or other rewards based on how much you spend during any given billing cycle, with rewards updating each closing date. You might be able to use your closing date to figure out how to qualify for rewards or a welcome offer sooner.⁴ Just remember that if you don’t pay your credit card in full every month, the interest charges you may accrue at the billing cycle’s end could offset the full value of rewards you earn.
  

You may want to implement the following tips to help manage your spending as your billing cycle comes to an end:

• Try to pay your statement off before the closing date.
  Since your closing date is the end date of the billing cycle, paying the credit card bill beforehand could lower the credit utilization rate your issuer reports to credit bureaus that month. Maintaining a low credit utilization ratio may benefit your credit.⁵
• Understand that transactions you make on the closing date may not show up until the next billing cycle.
  Purchases you make with your card on your closing date may end up on the next billing cycle statement, as pending transactions may take a day or more to post. You may want certain transactions to fall on the next statement, but not always.
• You may be able to modify your closing date.
  If you’re an American Express^® Card Member, you may be able to change your statement’s closing date by accessing your online account and following the link to change your payment date at the bottom of the page. Some credit card issuers may require you to speak with a customer service representative to change your dates.
• Know your card’s grace period.
  Credit card grace periods typically mean you can avoid interest charges before the next billing cycle by paying your balance in full each month.6 However, note that not all credit cards have an interest-free grace period, and not all transactions will always be interest-free either. For some transactions, like cash advances or balance transfers, interest will start accruing right away. You can check the length of your grace period in your cardholder agreement. Alternatively, you can speak with customer support.