- Capital One credit cards have a grace period of at least 25 days after the close of each billing cycle.
What does that mean? What’s a billing cycle?
A billing cycle is simply a period of time, between 28 days and 31 days, during which Capital One keeps track of all the purchases you make with your credit card. On the last day of the billing cycle, Capital One makes a list of all your purchases, totals it up, and sends you the bill by mail, by email, or however you choose to get it.
The last day of that billing cycle is what is referred to as the “close” of the billing cycle. From that day, you have a 25-day grace period in which to pay your bill in full without being charged interest. This assumes, of course, that you were not already carrying a balance from a prior billing period; if you were, interest would begin accumulating on your new purchases immediately — with no grace period.
Capital One says it like this in their credit card terms & conditions:
“Your due date is at least 25 days after the close of each billing cycle. We will not charge you interest on new purchases, provided you have paid your previous balance in full by the due date each month. We will begin charging interest on cash advances and transfers on the transaction date.”
Capital One Billing Cycle / Grace Period Examples:
Below is an example of three consecutive billing cycles you might find from a Capital One credit card, along with the expected due date that would correspond to them. Note the 25-day grace period between the final day of the billing cycle and when full payment is due to avoid paying interest:
- Billing Cycle: January 15 – February 11 Due Date: March 8
- Billing Cycle: February 12 – March 14 Due Date: April 8
- Billing Cycle: March 15 – April 13 Due Date: May 8
Is there a 25-day grace period for every individual purchase?
As noted above, all of the purchases you make during a billing cycle are bundled together by Capital One and billed to you at one time. The 25-day grace period only corresponds to the final day of the billing cycle. So, if you make a purchase on the final day of the billing cycle, that purchase would have a 25-day grace period. But, in reality, all purchases made before the final day of the billing cycle have a grace period longer than 25 days.
For example, using the first Capital One billing cycle above, a purchase made on January 15 (the first day of the billing cycle) is actually not due for payment until March 8. So, purchases made on January 15 actually have a grace period of 52 days! You can see that depending on when you make your purchase with a Capital One credit card, you might not have to pay it off for a good long time.