Before you use your credit card for online purchases or swipe your card, learn how to check your credit card’s available credit. It is necessary for you to ensure that you have enough available credit before you swipe your card or use your card for online purchases.
What is Your Credit Card Available Credit?
Your credit card’s available credit is the difference between your credit limit and your outstanding balance. This is the amount you’re able to spend on your credit card without facing penalties for overshooting your credit limit or having your card declined.
Why Should I Know My Card Available Credit?
It is essential to know your card’s available credit, before you make a purchase, as this will help you remain within your credit limit.
If you are aware of your available credit, you can avoid any over-limit fee charged by your credit card issuer.
It helps you manage your credit utilization if you’re concerned about building or maintaining a good credit score.
How to Check Your Card Available Credit in 3 Ways
Via Your Online Account
For cards that offer online access, you can simply log into your account to check your available credit. Your online account offers the latest information than your billing statement. You must note that the transactions you’ve made within the past day, may not reflect in the available balance shown on your credit card statement, or they show as pending transactions that have not cleared your account yet.
Via Billing Statement
Your available credit can also be gotten via your billing statement. This is because a recent copy of your billing statement will include your credit limit, current credit card balance, as well as your available credit. If you have made any payments or purchases since your last billing statement was mailed, the available credit on your statement will not be current. The available credit could be higher or lower depending on the transactions you’ve made to your account.
Via Customer Service
To check your available credit, you can call the customer service number listed on the back of your credit card. All you have to do is listen to the prompts for the option to get your available credit or request to speak to a customer service representative. Through this medium, you get the most up-to-date available credit when you call your credit card’s customer service.
How To Raise Your Available Credit
Request a Credit Limit Increase
You can request a credit limit increase if you do not have enough available credit for the purchase you are about to make. To make a decision, the credit card issuer will review your account history, income, and credit history and raise your credit limit if you are approved. If your request is denied, you’ll receive an email or letter in the mail intimating the reason your request was not approved.
Make a Large Credit Card Payment
Making a larger credit card payment to free up the credit you need is also another way of increasing your available credit if your credit limit increase request is denied. This may take one or two business days for the payment to post to your account and for your available credit to increase. In other cases, your credit card issuer may be willing to apply for the payment straight up. You can contact customer care to know if this option is available for your credit card.
With the three options outlined above, you can easily check your available credit at any time.
How to Check Your Credit Card Balance
Since the importance of checking your credit card balance cannot be overemphasized; we bring you ways on how to check your credit card balance.
This is an essential part of your credit card life especially if you are about to make a large purchase. It also necessary to check your credit card balance to see how you fare after your last shopping to confirm that your most recent payment was posted to your account.
You can easily check your current credit card balance through phone, internet, and account notifications or through a smartphone app. We recently published the list of Best Student credit cards, You can check it out here.
How to Check Your Credit Card Balance Over the Internet
To check your balance over the internet, you must have an online account set up. Once that is done, you can easily check your account balance online.
Start by opening a web browser
Scroll to your card issuer’s website and sign in to your account, to check your balance. Just check the back of your credit card or a recent billing statement to get the correct web address for your credit card issuer.
How to Check Your Balance Over the Phone
Simply call the number on the back of your credit card to gain access to a customer service rep.
Fill out your card number using your phone’s keypad and any other identifying number (last four digits of your social security number or your billing zip code). Then follow the prompts to hear your credit card balance.
Through Smartphone App
You can do most of your banking and credit card monitoring from your smartphone. You can easily download and check your balance as well as other credit details.
Go to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and download your card issuer’s app.
Next, tap open the app and log in using the same username and password that you’d use on the website.
Ensure that your smartphone or tablet is connected to the internet or cellular data to enable you to access your credit card information using the app.
How to Check Your Credit Card Balance Via Account Notifications
For most credit card issuers, you can have free rein to customize how closely you want to monitor your account activity once your online account has been set up.
This feature enables you, to get emails, push notifications, or text messages alerting you of all recent account activities.
For some companies, you can set up email notifications, to update you with your current balance after every purchase or monthly payment.
Now that you know that you don’t have to wait until your next credit card statement arrives to know the state of your credit card, balance won’t you rather hop on any of these mediums to check your credit card balance?
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