How Are Interest-free Days Calculated For My Credit Card?

ByAmandeep Singh

Last time we discussed about “What is a Virtual credit Card?” to help you avoid any fraudulent transaction on your Credit Card. In this article we are going to discuss about how to calculate the interest-free days for your credit card.

Nowadays, everyone uses a Credit Card and we are slowly and gradually realizing the benefits and advantages of doing so. Using the Credit Card for all occasions becomes more useful when you know everything about your credit Card. This can help you save a lot for you and you may even end up paying even less amount in most of the cases if you know how to make the best use of your credit card.

Photo Credit: michael_swan

One of the most important components in mastering the use of Credit card for optimum use is to know the interest free days for your credit card.

In this article, we will learn how to calculate the interest free days and how to make the most out of your credit card using that knowledge.

What all I need to know?

Before going any further, you should know the following details of your Credit Card:

Credit Card Billing Cycle: The date when you statement is generated.

Payment Due Date: The last date for your Credit Card Bill payment.

Now, I will try explaining you the concept by quoting an example.

Lets take an example where Sabby holds an ICICI Bank Credit Card. The billing cycle for his Credit Card is on the 15th of every month and your Payment due date is the 3rd of each month. Now, every bank gives “upto 50-52 Interest-free days” to pay your bill. Now, what we have to understand here is that what does this word “upto 52 days” means? Because every bank uses this same phrase only.

This is because it is in our hands how many days that you can avail of as interest-free days. Confused? Don’t worry, I will explain.

Take for example as I said above that your statement is generated on the 15th of December, 2009 for which Sabby has to make the payment on or before 3rd of the following month i.e. 3rd January, 2010 (in our case)

Case 1:

If he makes a purchase on the 14th of the month with his statement generating on 15th, he will have interest free period until the 3rd of the following month. So, in this case till the 3rd Jan,10 he will make the payment of the purchase done on 14 Dec. He will have the luxury of only 20 interest free days to pay the bill without being charged any interest on it.

Hence, in this example, his interest-free days are reduced to only 20 days.

Case 2:

But if Sabby goes by the smart strategy of increasing his interest free period, he will wait for some day and control his buying spree till the 16th of December, 09. Doing so, this purchase will be included in the Jan, 2010 statement (as December statement will already be generated on 15th) for which he will have to make the payment for his credit card bill till 3rd Feb 2010.

Hence, in a way in the second instance his interest-free days are increased to 51 days.

Conclusion:

Taking the above cases into accounnt, one may get a minimum of at least 20 interest-free days on your purchases but you can obviously increase them to 50-52 days if you make your purchases smartly in the initial stages of your billing cycle.

Hence, always keep in mind this thing so as to make an intelligent decision about making your purchases accordingly to ease the pressure on you to make payments availing the full advantage of the interest-free period 🙂

What are your views on this topic, what strategy do you follow while making your payments? If you have any other strategy to share with others, please put your comments below. your views are highly appreciated.

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27 Comments

  1. good info….it will really help me when ever i plan to use my credit card…thanks…looking forward to more info in the future…………

    Reply

  2. Thanks for the info brother.. Ur posts makes to get attracted and grab some credit cards.. What is the best credit card in the market.. also let me know how it works..
    .-= Rajesh Kanuri @ TechCats´s last blog ..TechCats Got Google SiteLinks =-.

    Reply

    1. Thanks Rajesh 🙂 Grab some… and follow the above mentioned strategy and you will never regret having a Credit Card…

      Regarding the best credit card in Market, I am soon to review some and list the best one here. So, stay tuned I will soon get back with a post on that 🙂

      Reply

    1. I wonder why this comment of yours went into Spam… 🙂

      And regarding the use of credit Card, that is actually a real safe way to go about using them online… taking into account the number of frauds taking place online…

      Reply

    1. Thats fine that you donot own a credit card but I suggest you should have one… taking into account the ease and facilities that they have to offer… and yes, master its use wisely… 🙂

      And, it is very true that majority of us donot know of this concept and many a times land-up paying extra charges as interest…

      I am soon coming up with the best credit cards that proovide the best of the offers… Subscribe to the email updates so stay updated…

      Reply

  7. Hey friend, That was real good post. I was searching for this kind of site/blog that will give me detailed information.

    Well, I have HDFC Visa gold credit card and I generally use it for online transaction and occasionally for shopping too.

    My Card billing period is about 5 of every month and the due date is 23 of every month. Meaning for this month the statement is generated on 5 of June 2010 and the due date is 23 June 2010. There my question is what will the best period of doing shopping with my card to get maximum of interest free dates?

    I will appreciate if you could answer.

    Reply

    1. I am really glad that you liked it mate 🙂

      I am pleased to answer your query… In your case, when your statement gets generated on the 5th of the month (for this month, 05th June 2010), to get the maximum benefit of these interest free days, you should make a purchase on or after the 06th June 2010. This will mean that this purchase will be reflected in the statement that gets generated on the 05th July for which you will make payment on the 23rg of July 2010.

      So, for the purchase made on the 06th June, you pay the amount on 23rd July, in a way you get 47-48 days of interest free period. This generally is 48 with some banks and 50-52 with other banks.

      Please feel free to ask any other question that you have 🙂 I will be more than happy to help you 🙂

      Reply

      1. Dear Sir,
        I am using ICICI Coral card, my billing date is 15th of every month. I have made purchase on 15th evening 7 PM.

        On 17th I have received my bill, it has not shown any dues. this means, i can wait for next bill ?
        I have checked through telephone and always answering about no dues?

        what to do I have to pay in next cycle? or I have to pay in the same month?

        kindly tell me?

        Reply

        1. Hi Hemantha,

          The statement would have already been generated on the 15th and you would have made your purchase after. If the purchase doesn’t show on the current month, it ideally means it will be shown on the next statement. You can check your current outstanding spends online or can call the customer care if you need further details on it.

          Thanks
          Aman

          Reply

  9. Thanks a lot Amandeep for this informative piece of writing. I will definitely keep this information in mind while using my credit card next time and the maximum benefit out of it. Once again thanks a ton…

    Reply

  12. hey Aman,really nice of u to post a beneficial post here…..am planning to hv a credit card of icici bank.wot i want to know are all other charges excluding interest which the bank will deduct for this credit card like yearly charges,service tax,online transaction charges etc etc……it will really help me to motivate whether to grab it or leave it…..bye

    Reply

    1. Hi Rayees – apologies for the late reply..

      Regarding your query, if you stick to the credit-free period and make all the payments (in full) on time, there is no charge that the credit card company can take from you. Regarding the annual charges, it depends on the card that you decide to take, with normal benefits, you can also get it for 0 annual fees while for premium cards, it can go upto a couple of thousand rupees for an year (check with the CC company for this)

      I hope this info helps you and do let me know which CC you go for and also get back to me if you would like to know further details on any of above info.

      Cheers,
      Aman

      Reply

  13. Hi Amandeep,
    Thanks for the informative article.I am having HDFC Bank Titanium Credit Card and i am a CLASSIC customer for the same bank.I very recently received my card but i am yet to use it for the Transactions.I would like to know who do we get to know the Billing Cycle of our card when i am yet to use it.Is it that if i use it on say 15th of January 2016,my Billing cycle will start calculating from that date or the bank sets its own cycle.I am not getting any info from my online account so your help would be highly appreciated.My first Transaction will decide my Billing cycle or there are specific dates on which the Billing Cycle will start. Kindly reply back asap.

    Regards,

    Reply

    1. Hi Syed,

      Every card company has it’s own cycles of billing dates. You can call your customer care to get your statement date to take full advantage of ~52-day interest free period.

      Thanks
      Aman

      Reply

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