Terms and Conditions
What is a grace period?
A grace period is a period of time a credit card company gives you before it starts charging you interest on the purchases you made. In most cases the grace period is between 20 to 25 days.
However, the grace period is not a free time to pay any bill! Many people don’t know, but in most cases, the grace period is granted ONLY WHEN YOU DO NOT CARRY ANY BALANCE! That means that if you carry a balance of even one cent from the previous period you would have to pay interest on all the new purchases starting from the day of the purchase! This is a good reason to pay your bill at full whenever you can.
You can find the grace period in the Terms and Conditions of the credit card offer. In most cases you will see that these 20-25 days are granted only "when you pay your balance in full". People sometimes are leaving the bill payment to the last day thinking the are saving money by waiting, but in fact, if you carry a balance you are most likely paying interest for any single day since the purchase was made. The solution is simple – don't carry a balance if you are able to avoid it, and complete paying your balance as early as you can.
See also...
What are the Terms and Conditions for a credit card?
What fees do credit cards have?
What are the risks of owning a credit card? ...
How do I compare credit card offers?
Last update: 2006-09-25 17:08
Author: BKO
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