The reason for the discrepancy is that your credit card statement balance is the amount you owed on the closing date of the last billing cycle. Your current balance includes any purchases you've made in the current billing cycle, plus any pending purchases that haven't been applied to your available credit yet.
If you're carrying a balance on your credit card, the card issuer typically calculates your minimum payment each month as a percentage of what you owe — and that figure will rise if you're charging more to the card each month and growing the balance.
Because 30 percent of your credit score is based on your credit utilization ratio—that is, the ratio of your available credit to your existing debt. If you go over your credit limit, your debt is exceeding your available credit on that account.
You're Still Creating Debt
If you're still making credit card purchases or taking out loans, your overall debt balance won't go down by much, if it goes down at all. To see more progress with your payments, you have to stop creating new debt. That means, no more credit card purchases.
When you overpay, any amount over the balance due will show up as a negative balance on your account. Negative balances are simply reported as zero balances on your credit report and will not affect your credit utilization. You also won't earn interest on your negative balance.
To build good credit and stay out of debt, you should always aim to pay off your credit card bill in full every month. If you want to be really on top of your game, it might seem logical to pay off your balance more often, so your card is never in the red. But hold off.
A good guideline is the 30% rule: Use no more than 30% of your credit limit to keep your debt-to-credit ratio strong. Staying under 10% is even better. In a real-life budget, the 30% rule works like this: If you have a card with a $1,000 credit limit, it's best not to have more than a $300 balance at any time.
It's Best to Pay Your Credit Card Balance in Full Each Month
Leaving a balance will not help your credit scores—it will just cost you money in the form of interest. Carrying a high balance on your credit cards has a negative impact on scores because it increases your credit utilization ratio.
Overpaying will not increase your credit score more than paying in full. Negative balances show up on a credit report as $0 balances. Having a balance of zero is good for your credit score, but you won't get an extra boost by overpaying. Overpaying will not raise your credit limit.
A minimum payment of 3% a month on $15,000 worth of debt means 227 months (almost 19 years) of payments, starting at $450 a month. By the time you've paid off the $15,000, you'll also have paid almost as much in interest ($12,978 if you're paying the average interest rate of 14.96%) as you did in principal.
A high balance does not directly impact your credit score, but it can affect your credit utilization. Credit utilization is the amount of available credit you're currently using in comparison to your credit limit—both on an individual card and multiple cards combined.
If your credit card balance is incorrect—e.g., you paid off your balance a few months ago, and your credit report doesn't reflect that—you can submit a credit report dispute. This request will require the credit card company to provide the most recent balance.
It could be a simple error — like a double swipe of your card, for example — or it could be someone trying to make a little extra money off of a restaurant bill. Here's how to fix a mistake on your statement, and to make sure you're safe.
Most people assume that credit card errors are extremely rare, but they could happen to anyone. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission found that 26 percent of study participants had found at least one mistake on their credit report. Luckily, credit card errors are usually correctable.
Making more than one payment each month on your credit cards won't help increase your credit score. But, the results of making more than one payment might.
Credit utilization — the portion of your credit limits that you are currently using — is a significant factor in credit scores. It is one reason your credit score could drop a little after you pay off debt, particularly if you close the account.
Despite what you may have heard through the grapevine, it's always better to pay off your entire balance — or credit debt — immediately. Not only will this save you time and money, but it'll reflect well on your credit score.
If you've avoided credit cards until now, a $500 limit (or something similar) is the perfect way to get your feet wet. Restricting yourself to a lower limit can be a great, low-pressure way to get started with credit cards.
The average credit card limit for a 25-year-old is around $3,000. To get to that number, it's important to know that the average credit score in that age bracket is 650, which is fair credit.
A high-limit credit card typically comes with a credit line between $5,000 to $10,000 (and some even go beyond $10,000). You're more likely to have a higher credit limit if you have good or excellent credit.
You should use your secured credit card at least once per month in order to build credit as quickly as possible. You will build credit even if you don't use the card, yet making at least one purchase every month can accelerate the process, as long as it doesn't lead to missed due dates.
The 15/3 credit card payment hack is a credit optimization strategy that involves making two credit card payments per month. You make one payment 15 days before your statement date and a second one three days before it (hence the name).
Carrying a balance does not help your credit score, so it's always best to pay your balance in full each month. The impact of not doing paying in full each month depends on how large of a balance you're carrying compared to your credit limit.