By Ella Vincent
From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
Checking your credit card statement every month is an important financial task.
The statement holds key information. Plus, by monitoring transactions, you can get a sense of where your money is going—and detect any fraudulent purchases quickly.
Here’s how to read the fine print:
- Account Summary
Your credit limit, as well as the amount of credit available to you after subtracting your card’s balance, appears in the account summary, too.
- Payment Information
The payment section also lists the minimum payment due to avoid a penalty, as well as a warning that explains how much you’ll owe in fees and higher interest if you fail to pay by the due date. This section also explains the number of months or years it will take to pay off the balance if you make only minimum payments.
- Changes to Your Account
- Transactions
Inspect this part of your statement closely for any transactions you don’t recognize, which could indicate fraud. If you see a purchase you don’t recall making, contact the merchant first. If you can’t resolve the issue with the merchant, write a letter to your credit card company to dispute the charge.
Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you have 60 days after the date the billing statement was sent to you to dispute an erroneous charge.
- Fees and Interest Charges
- Interest Gharge Calculations
- Rewards
©2024 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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