How to Check Your Credit Card Balance

The best rule to live by when dealing with credit cards is to always pay off your balances on time. If you pay on time, you won’t have to worry about extra fees and unnecessary interest building up. However, in order to pay off your balances in a timely manner, you have to be aware of what your balance is. Throughout this article, we’ll go over all the ways of checking your credit card balance, define key terms to help your understanding, and explain the reasons why you should be checking your balance consistently.

3 Main Ways to Check your Credit Card Balance

To begin, there are multiple types of “balances” that you can see on your credit card statement which we will go over later in the article. For now, we’ll focus on the statement balance, or the balance that shows up at the end of your billing cycle. Once your statement balance is available to see, there are three major ways for you to check what it is.

• Sign in to your bank’s website account - This is probably the most straightforward way for you to check your balance. You can most likely find your bank’s website on the back of your card if you don’t already know what it is. Once you are on the website, just log in to your account. If you don’t already have an account, you can certainly set one up. Once you are in, you should be able to easily navigate and find your statement balance as well as how much time you have to pay it off.
• Check your balance through the app portal - This method of checking your balance and account information is very convenient as well. Your issuing bank almost definitely has a mobile app that you can download and log in to. Navigating the app is similar to navigating through the website. Through this app, you can check all of your balances and see previous transactions that you have made as well.

A useful tip that you should implement through the mobile banking app is setting up notifications. You can set up personalized notifications that can consistently tell you what you’re using your credit card on, how much of your credit limit you’re using, or even when you’re about to make a late payment. Notifications will help you be in the know about your credit card balances, and the more informed you are, the less likely you are to overspend or miss a payment.

• Call customer service and inquire about your balance - The last common method of checking your credit card statement balance is by simply calling customer service. If you don’t have access to a web browser or a mobile banking app, you can always call the number that should be found on your physical credit card. Although it may take some time to get connected to an actual representative, the representative can walk you through your statement balance as well as other items on your credit card account. Make sure that when you are calling, you are ready to verify your identity. You could be asked for your bank account number, Social Security Number, or personal identification questions that you created before. These systems are kept in place so that not anyone can call customer service and access your personal information.

Key Vocab for Understanding Credit Card Balances

Now that you know the main ways to check your credit card statement balance, let’s go over some other key terms that you should know regarding your credit card account information. You can find all of this information by logging into your online account or calling customer service as well.

• Statement balance - Your statement balance is the accumulated balance that shows up at the end of your billing cycle. This is the balance that you have to pay off before the due date, and this is also the monthly balance that is sent to the three credit bureaus.

• Current balance - Your current balance is the dynamic and most updated balance on your credit card. This shows all of your transactions and payments. Once your billing cycle ends, your immediate current balance also becomes the statement balance. However, if you continue to make purchases after the statement balance is generated, your current balance will account for them but your statement balance will not.

• Billing cycle - Your billing cycle is the regular period of time where your expenditures and payments during that time are added together to come up with a statement balance. Billing cycles typically last anywhere between 20 and 45 days but definitely vary by each account.

• Due date - The due date is the day that your most recent statement balance needs to be paid by. If you don’t pay off all of your statement balance by the due date, you will start accumulating interest and possibly late fees.

• Grace period - The grace period is the amount of time between the day you get your statement balance (or the last day of the billing cycle) and the day that your statement balance is due. According to the Credit CARD Act of 2009, your grace period has to be at least 21 days, if not more. 

• Minimum payment - A minimum payment is the amount you have to pay towards your most recent statement balance in order to prevent late fees. Minimum payments are typically only a small percentage of the entire statement balance (1%-5%). Just paying minimum payments is not a good idea, as your unpaid balance will start accruing interest, spiraling you into immediate debt. However, paying off your minimum balance is definitely better than not paying anything at all.
• Credit utilization rate - Your utilization rate is the amount of your total available credit limit that you are using every cycle. More specifically, it is whatever your statement balance is at the end of each billing cycle divided by your maximum credit limit. For example, if your credit limit was $1,000 and your statement balance for a month was $200, your credit utilization rate is 20% ($200/$1,000). Generally, keeping your credit utilization rate low (under 30%, under 10% if possible) is a key way to increase your credit score.

3 Reasons Why You Should be Checking Your Balance Consistently

Constantly checking your credit card balance, rather than only checking towards the end of your billing cycle, has many benefits. Here are a few reasons why you should develop the habit of regularly being in the know.

• Protecting against fraud - If you develop a habit of constantly checking your credit card balance and transactions, you will become very aware of all the purchases you make. That way, if someone stole your credit card information and made a purchase, you would be able to find out quickly and take steps to stop the fraud by contacting your credit card company. Credit card fraud is common—there were over 270,000 reported cases in 2019 alone, and the number has been growing. Being aware is one of the best things that you can do to protect yourself from it.
• Preventing yourself from overspending - Because credit cards don’t feel as scarce as hard cash or debit, it is easy to overspend with them. Overspending leads to late payments or inabilities to pay altogether, which then leads to debt. However, if you are constantly checking your credit card balance, you will know exactly how much money you have been spending and whether or not you can afford to.
• Tracking and manipulating your credit utilization rate - As mentioned before, your credit utilization rate is one of the key determinants of improving (or worsening) your credit score. However, remember that your statement balance is the actual balance sent to credit bureaus, not your current balance. This means that if you keep track of your current balance and when your billing cycle ends, you can actually make payments to your current balance before it becomes your statement balance. By being aware and doing this, you can actually keep your credit utilization rate very low, even if you are spending a lot with your credit card. This is one of the best tricks to improving your credit score, and it starts with checking your credit card balance constantly.

Altogether, checking your credit card balance is both simple and necessary. Whether it’s through an online portal, through an app, or through a phone call, constantly checking your credit card balance information is a key step to becoming a financially responsible credit user.