Since credit card bills are due monthly, most people pay theirs once a month. This isn't the only option, though. You can technically pay your credit card as often as you want. Some consumers prefer to pay more often, such as every two weeks or even on a weekly basis. It might seem pointless, but there are actually a couple of benefits to paying your credit card every week.
It keeps your credit utilization lower, which is good for your credit score
Weekly credit card payments are one of the easier ways to boost your credit score. That's because of an important scoring criteria called your credit utilization ratio. It's a measurement of how much of your credit you're using. Card issuers report your balances and credit limits once per month, and these are used to calculate your current credit utilization.
Paying weekly keeps your balances and your credit utilization lower, which is better for your credit score. Here's an example to explain how this can be beneficial.
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Let's say you have one credit card with a $10,000 credit limit and a $5,000 balance. Your bill is due on the 28th, but the card issuer reports your balance on the 24th. You could do either of the following:
- Pay monthly. You pay $5,000 on the 28th. Your card issuer already reported a $5,000 balance on the 24th. Because your credit limit is $10,000, your credit utilization is 50% and will negatively impact your credit score.
- Pay weekly. You pay $1,250 on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th. Your card issuer reports a balance of $1,250 on the 24th. Your credit utilization is 12.5%, which is excellent and will positively impact your credit score.
How much this matters will depend on your typical credit utilization. If it's on the high side (under 30% is recommended), paying weekly can lower it.
It could help you budget
As a general rule, the more you monitor your spending, the easier it is to stick to a budget. So, if you review and pay your credit card bill weekly, that could work better for budgeting than doing so monthly.
Imagine that you've decided to spend no more than $500 per week and $2,000 per month on your credit card. The first week, you spend $650. If you pay your credit card every week, you'll see that you went over your limit. You can then figure out where to cut back and adjust your weekly spending the rest of the month so you don't exceed $2,000 total.
If you pay your credit card monthly, you might not notice you're overspending. Maybe you end up spending about $650 per week. By the time you get to the end of the month, you have a $2,600 bill, putting you $600 over budget.
There are plenty of other ways to monitor your spending. Lots of consumers like to use budgeting apps that connect to their financial accounts. But paying your credit card every week also works well.
It might be inconvenient
The drawback to paying credit cards weekly is that it's more time-consuming. You can set up autopay for your monthly credit card payment. No credit card company that I know of has the option of setting up automatic weekly payments.
That means you'll need to log in and make a manual payment every week. If you have multiple credit cards, then it's even more to manage.
Should you pay your credit card bill every week?
The only rule about paying your credit card is to always make your payment by the due date. Ideally, you should pay the entire statement balance. If you do that, the card issuer won't charge you interest on your purchases.
As long as you're making at least your monthly payment, the frequency is up to you. Paying weekly could be a good idea if your credit utilization has been hurting your credit score, or if you want to better stay on top of your spending. But making weekly payments can be inconvenient, so it's fine if you'd rather stick to paying monthly.
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