How to read your credit card statement

With their transaction codes, repayments, and interest calculations, credit card statements are not for the faint of heart.

Reading a credit card statement is about as much fun as watching paint dry, but it contains important and useful information, assuming you know where to look! Read on to find out what your credit card statement means. Don't worry; we've kept it brief!

Understanding the basics of your statement

Your statement will have several sections, including an account summary, a list of itemised transactions, and payment information. Credit card statements contain the same information, but the way they are laid out is inconsistent between banks. Some banks do a better job of it than others.

• Opening balance. The balance as of the first day of the statement period.
• New charges. A summary of the total amount of money charged to the card during the statement period.
• Payments and refunds. The total of any overpayments or refunds received during the statement period.
• Statement date. The date the statement was generated.
• Closing balance. The total amount owing on your credit card account. Lower is better.
• Next statement period. Start and end dates for the upcoming statement period.
• Statement period. The period of time the current statement covers.
• Credit limit. The total amount of credit extended to you.
• Available credit. How much of the credit limit left to use. Having more available credit means your credit utilisation ratio is lower.
• Points. The balance of points earned or redeemed in the statement period.
• Overdue. The amount you have yet to repay from a previous statement period (if you did not pay at least the minimum repayment amount).
• Total amount due. The total amount left to repay. This is how much you would need to repay before closing the account.
• Minimum payment. Typically between 2-3% of your outstanding balance. You may incur a charge for paying less than the minimum. Paying the minimum each month means you'll make very slow progress towards paying off your debt.
• Payment due date. You must have made at least the minimum payment by this date. Payments that arrive later than this date are considered late and will incur a late fee (if there is one).
• Transactions. An itemised list of every transaction during the statement, including dates, amounts, and a description, e.g. merchant name and/or location.