What is billing statement

A periodic report that credit card companies issue to credit card holders showing their recent transactions, balance due and other key information. Billing statements are issued at the end of each billing cycle, which is usually about one month long. Credit card holders can receive their billing statements by mail or online.

BREAKING DOWN 'Billing Statement'

Billing statements are usually divided into several sections. One section will show the cardholder’s previous balance, payments and credits (how much money they’ve paid toward their balance plus any merchant refunds), total dollar amount of new purchases made during the billing cycle that just ended, balance transfers, cash advances, fees charged, interest charged and the new total balance. It will also show the minimum payment due and the due date to avoid a late fee and interest charges. Another section of the billing statement will show the cardholder’s total credit limit, amount used and amount available. It will also show any cash advance line available. For rewards credit cards, another section of the billing statement will show the cardholder’s opening reward balance, new rewards earned during the billing cycle, and new rewards balance.

The billing statement will also list each transaction charged during the billing cycle and provide the transaction date, postdate, merchant name and transaction amount. It will show the cardholder’s interest rate for purchases that aren’t paid in full before the due date and the interest rate for any cash advances. There will be a payment coupon for consumers who send their payments by mail and information about different ways to contact the credit card issuer with any questions. The billing statement will also contain fine print about what the cardholder should do if they notice a mistake on the billing statement, how consumers can make payments and how the card issuer will handle those payments. The fine print will also explain how the issuer calculates any interest charges.