How to read your credit card statement

What is a 'statement period'?

Your credit card statement shows all the activity on your account for a period, and this is called a statement period. This period is usually 30 days, and generally ends on the same day of each month.

If you made a credit card payment during your statement period, you’ll see this under your Account summary as 'Payment & other credits received'. 'Other credits' could include a refund from a store or merchant.

Note: If you have a NAB StraightUp Card, please refer to section three of the NAB StraightUp Card Terms and Conditions to see how your statement works.

The importance of the 'payment window'

When your statement period ends, you’ll have 14 days before your payment due date, unless you have a NAB Low Rate Card, then it’s 25 days. These days make up your ‘payment window’.

You need to make payments during your payment window, either on or before your payment due date. While you can make a payment during the statement period to lower your closing balance, you’ll still need to make at least the minimum payment during your payment window. Otherwise you may be charged a late payment fee.

If you don’t pay the full closing balance on or before the due date, you’ll pay interest on any purchases during the statement period (less any payments you’ve made).

Example

If a statement period begins on July 5 this date is also the start of the 44 day interest-free period. Note that the interest-free period begins on the first day of the statement period, not when you make your first purchase.

If the statement period then ends on August 3, you would then have 14 days to make a payment, ending on August 17.

Note: Any payments you make before your payment window opens will still be processed. The payment will reduce your closing balance and, if your card has a positive balance, this will show as credit received and show in your closing balance.

Credit limits

Your credit limit is the maximum amount you can spend on your credit card. If you have an additional cardholder, this limit applies to them as well.

Example

If your limit is $4,000 this is the total amount you and the additional card holder can spend.

Available credit

Your available credit is any credit you haven’t used and is worked out by taking your closing balance off your credit limit. i.e. credit limit minus closing balance equals your available credit.

Example

If your credit limit is $7,000 and your closing balance (amount you have spent) is $3,000 then your available credit is $4,000.

Payment details

Unless you have overdue amounts or you’ve gone over your limit, the payment details section only shows your:

• closing balance
• due date (or due now)
• total minimum payment.

If you have a balance transfer this section will also show your interest-free days payment.

Closing balance

This is the total amount you owe on your credit card when we create your statement at the end of the statement.

If you want to pay off your entire credit card debt for the month, the closing balance is the amount you’ll need to pay. If you pay this amount by the due date, or if your statement displays an interest-free days payment, you won't be charged any interest on your purchases.

You can get a breakdown of the closing balance figure in the 'Account summary' section in your statement.

Due date

We must receive payment by the due date. This payment should be at least your total minimum payment, or if you want to reduce your interest, your entire closing balance, or if your statement displays an interest-free days payment, this amount.

Your previously mentioned payment window closes at the end of your due date, and if no payment is made you may be charged a late payment fee.

If you don’t owe us anything, there’s no payment date on your statement.

Due now

If you have an amount in red labelled 'due now', there are two different things that this could be:

• Past due amount - this is any amount you had to pay last month but didn’t. If you have a payment past due, there’ll be a bold message lower down on the statement as well.
• Over limit amount - this is any purchase you've made on your credit card above your credit limit.

If you have both a past due amount and an over limit amount, only the larger of the two is due now.

The difference between 'monthly payment amount' and 'total minimum payment'

The monthly payment is the amount due from purchases and transactions made during your monthly statement period.

The total minimum payment is the total of the monthly payment and any past due or over limit amounts that you must pay before the due date. You need to pay the total minimum payment to avoid a late payment fee.

If you’ve paid all your credit card debt for the last month these amounts will be the same. The monthly payment amount will only appear on your statement if it’s different to your total minimum payment.

Interest-free days payment

If you have an outstanding balance transfer amount, the interest-free days payment is the amount you need to pay by the due date each month, to be eligible for interest-free days on purchases.

If your interest-free days payment is less than your minimum payment, this amount will be the same as the minimum payment to ensure you avoid paying a late payment fee.

Account summary

Your account summary gives you a breakdown of the figures that make up your closing balance.

Opening balance

The amount you owed at the start of your statement period. The start of your statement period is also the start of your payment window from last month. The opening balance will be the same amount as your closing balance on your last statement.

Payments and other credit received

This is any amount credited to your account during your statement period. It may include payments made during your last payment window, and any payments you made during your statement period (i.e. in the last 30 days or so).

It also may include refunds or credits from stores or merchants, but keep in mind that those amounts don’t count as payments towards your statement.

Purchases, cash advances

This is the total of everything charged to your card during the statement period. It includes special promotion debits such as balance transfers.

Interest and other charges

The total of any interest and fees we’ve charged you during your statement period. If we’ve charged interest, there’ll be a breakdown of your interest near the end of your statement. It shows your exact interest rates and how much of each type you’ve been charged.

Closing balance

This is the total amount owing on your credit card when we create your statement. This is the amount to pay to clear your entire credit card debt for the month.

Learn how you can avoid credit card interest.

Payment window

This is the 14 or 25 day window within which you must pay off your closing balance after your statement ends.

For example, if a card has ‘up to 44 days interest-free’, you have up to 14 days after its month statement period ends to pay it off.

Similarly, ‘up to 55 days interest-free’ gives you 25 days after the statement period ends. These are known as payment windows - the amount of time to pay off your closing balance.

Rewards points

If you earn rewards points (flybuys™, Qantas Frequent Flyer™ or Velocity™), your total points earned for the month will be displayed. There’s a breakdown of these points near the end of your statement.

If you have one of our NAB Rewards cards, log into NAB Internet Banking or the NAB app to access the NAB Rewards Store to manage and redeem points.

Balance transfers

If you have a balance transfer which has a balance above zero, you will see a breakdown table at the end of your statement. This will include information such as the start and expiry date, the amount remaining to pay and more.

Disputed transactions

If you’ve contacted us to dispute any transactions, they’re listed separately near the end of your statement.

Are you experiencing financial hardship?

If you’re having trouble making payments, call us on 1800 701 599 from Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 8:00pm (AEST/AEDT) and Saturday, 9:00am to 1:00pm (AEST/AEDT). You might also want to read more about Customer Care.