I received a credit card statement covering the September 20 to October 19 period. Now, it just so happens that I received a very large refund on October 20.
The statement balance is due on November 9. What is the minimum amount I must pay to avoid incurring interest?
Am I required to pay the statement balance? Or, if the balance on November 9th is lower than the statement balance, am I required to pay this lower amount?
It depends on the bank. CitiCards for example (at least some of them), require a full statement balance payment regardless of any refund that may have happened, to avoid interest; this is even true if your refund plus payment leave a 0 or even negative balance on the card, and you leave it alone like that. Most will include that refund as "part of the payment." In other words, call the customer service for your card and find out.
The lower balance, I.e. statement balance less of refund.
