What is a credit card billing cycle?

A credit card's billing cycle is the approximate one month period between your statement's closing dates.

It is also called a billing period or statement period. All new transactions during this time impact your next bill.

Understanding how the credit card billing cycle works can help you time your purchases and manage your credit.

A credit card's billing cycle typically is between 28 and 31 days. All transactions during this period are recorded.

These transactions are added to your previous balance if any and helps determine your next statement balance.

Once you get a new statement at the end of the billing cycle, your bill will be due and the cycle repeats again.

Purchases, balance transfers, interest charges, fees, payments and statement credits all impact the balance.

Credit card bills are due on the same day every month, or the next business day if it falls on a holiday or weekend.

Credit card statements help you know the closing date of the billing cycle so you can plan payments accordingly.