Every credit card gives you an interest-free period — but it is not a fixed number of days from each purchase. It depends on when in the statement cycle you swipe.
The three dates that matter
- Purchase date — the day you swipe.
- Statement date — the day your card closes the month and totals what you owe.
- Due date — the deadline to pay that statement without interest.
A purchase made the day after your statement closes only appears on the next statement — so it enjoys the longest possible buffer before payment is due.
The rule of thumb
Swipe right after the statement date, not right before it.
This app does that maths for you: it ranks your cards by today’s buffer and tells you which one to use.