How to Read Your Credit Card Statement

Your previous balance is the unpaid amount from the previous credit card bill. Unless you’re using a 0% APR promotion, the unpaid amount from last month will be charged interest, which will be added to the amount that you owe.

The “purchases” line includes the full amount for all purchases that you made in-person, online and over the phone in the past month. Any returns and credits will offset your purchase amount.

Credit card issuers sometimes allow cardholders to transfer balances from other credit cards. If you transferred a balance to your card in the past month, you should see that amount under “balance transfers.” Balance transfers are generally charged fees and interest and may have a different APR than your purchases, though some banks offer 0% intro APRs for balance transfers.

Looking for the best balance transfer credit card?
See our picks for the best credit cards for balance transfers.

You may see an amount under “cash advances” if you took a cash advance loan from your card over the past month. Various other transactions — e.g., purchasing lotto tickets or transferring money through Venmo — may also be counted as cash advances.

Cash advances don’t have a grace period, which means interest begins accumulating immediately. These interest rates tend to be the highest charged by the bank, and there’s also usually a fee to pay for the transaction. As such, you should avoid cash advances unless absolutely necessary.

Looking for the best cash advance credit card?
See our picks for the best credit cards for a cash advance.

Under “interest,” you’ll find the interest you accumulated the past month for various transactions, based on your credit card’s annual percentage rate (APR). This may include interest on a balance that you carried over from the previous billing period, as well as interest on transactions that don’t qualify for your credit card’s grace period, such as cash advances.

At the bottom of your statement, you should find an “interest charges” section. This section breaks down your APRs and interest charges into a few categories — purchases, cash advances and balance transfers — to help you see how your interest was calculated.

On top of the payments you have to make that result from purchases and transactions, you may find various fees listed on your credit card statement. These may include:

• Annual fee: Some credit cards charge users an annual fee to help cover the benefits provided to cardholders. Certain credit cards waive the annual fee for the first year, while others charge no annual fee at all.
• Balance transfer fees: Banks typically charge 3% to 5% of the total amount transferred with a minimum fee of $5 to $10.
• Cash advance fees: These fees are charged when withdrawing money from an ATM or when conducting certain transactions, like buying lottery tickets or money orders). Common fees for a cash advance are 5% (minimum $10).
• Foreign transaction fees: When you make an international purchase while traveling abroad, many credit cards charge a foreign transaction fee. In addition, these fees may be charged when buying from a website outside the U.S. Typically, these range from 2.7% to 3%; however, some credit cards waive them entirely.
• Penalty fees: Banks may charge penalty fees when you miss your due date or go over your limit, or if your payment is returned by your bank. Your credit card’s guide details the type of fees you may incur and the amount charged for each one.

Looking for a low-cost credit card? See our picks for the best credit cards with no annual fee.

This is the date by which you’ll need to make at least the minimum payment due, in order to avoid a late fee. In addition, you need to pay any nonpromotional balance off in full by this date to avoid paying interest on the unpaid balance.

You’ll also find a minimum payment warning on your statement — this shows the number of months and the amount of interest it will take to pay off your current balance making only minimum payments.

This is the part of your credit card statement where you want to spend the most time. It contains a list of all your purchases, payments and credits (refunds) that occurred during the billing cycle.Some credit cards keep purchases separate from payments and credits, while others list them chronologically by date.

Each bank formats its statements differently, so you may notice some, but not all, of these on your credit card statement.

• Transaction date: This is the date on which you made a purchase. In the case of payments or refunds, it’s the date on which those events occurred.
• Date the transaction posted: This is the date the purchase was added to your account, which may be a day or two after the transaction date.
• Merchant and location: You can see the store name and location of where your card was used. Some banks simply label this as “description.”
• Merchant category: This is the category that the merchant falls under, such as “travel” or “groceries.” This is useful information for rewards credit cards that give elevated rewards in certain categories, like groceries or gas.
• Reference number: These are a unique series of letters and numbers that can be traced back to the transaction.
• Last four digits of the card used: This is useful if you have an authorized user on the account or if you’ve applied for a card that provides an instant credit card number and use a mix of the virtual and physical card for your spending.
• Amount charged: This is the dollar amount of your transaction.

By reviewing your credit card account activity regularly, you can spot discrepancies and find ways to reduce your spending to fit your budget.

Since a credit card bill acts as a regular communication method between the bank and a cardholder, important notices are often included with the statement. These notices may include changes in terms, special promotions and offers from partners.