21st Century Student FinLit -Getting Personal SW

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V. The Credit Card Billing Statement At the end of every billing cycle, a credit cardholder receives a credit card billing statement which summarizes and discloses everything that happened on their account in the billing cycle. Billing statements come in the mail or you can elect to receive e-statements. Billing statements should be carefully reviewed. Consumer credit laws require the credit card company to disclose a lot of important information in the statement , such as whether there has been an event that triggered a higher APR or exactly how a balance was calculated. It lists details about the outstanding balance and payment due dates. At first, billing statements can appear intimidating with all the items and numbers, but they are actually easy to read. They reveal a lot about your little credit card beast and provide information that is essential to keeping it under control.

Previous Balance Payments Other Credits Purchases Balance Transfers Cash Advances Past Due Amount Fees Charged Interest Charged Summary of Account Activity 1 PRODUCT PREVIEW New Balance Credit limit Available credit Statement closing date Days in billing cycle

Pay

$535.07 -$450.00 $0.00 +$517.12 +$785.00 +318.00 +$0.00 +$69.45 +$11.36

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1 Summary of Account Activity. This section summarizes the transactions that took place in that billing cycle. All charges and payments are totaled. The new balance is disclosed. The statement closing date refers to the last day of the billing cycle. Any charges made after this date will show up on the next billing statement.

$1,786.00

$2,000.00 $214.00 3/22/2016 30

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QUESTIONS? Call Customer Service Lost or Stolen Credit Card

Reflect on Learning: What was the balance on the previous billing statement? ($535.07) How much did the cardholder pay against the previous balance? ($450) Did the cardholder carry over a balance from the prior billing cycle to this billing cycle? Yes, because the full balance wasn't paid off! How much has the cardholder “borrowed” in this billing cycle? ($517 in purchases + $318 in cash advances + a $785 balance transfer.) Observe the credit limit ($2000) and statement closing date (3/22/16). Note $69.45 in fees. The reason for the fees is disclosed in a section below. 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX

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You have triggered the Penalty APR of 28.95%. This Transactions made on or after 4/9/16: As of 5/10/16, transactions. We may keep the APR at this level inde Transactions made before 4/9/16: Current rates will c However, if you become more than 60 days late on y Notice of Changes to Your Interest Rate

Chapter 13 | Credit Card Craze 246

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