Grace period

A grace period, on a credit card that offers one, is the time during which the issuer does not charge interest on purchases if you pay the statement balance in full by the due date. It is a term of the agreement, shaped by Regulation Z’s rules on when a creditor may treat a payment as late for grace-period purposes. It is not a personal status that survives a revolving balance.

Paying only the minimum keeps the account from being late and generally ends the purchase grace period until the agreement says it returns. New purchases may then accrue interest from the date they post. Cash advances commonly have no grace period at all and accrue interest from the transaction date, often at a separate APR.

The grace period is also not the reporting cycle. Paying in full by the due date can preserve the waiver of purchase interest and still leave the prior closing balance in a credit file if that balance was already reported. Read the statement for the interest rule. Read the credit report for the reported balance.