SBI Credit Card bill DECODED! How check monthly statement, know charges that you pay

India has around 40 million credit card holders and with over 7 million credit card customers, the State Bank of India is the second largest credit card issuer in the country. A credit card user gets a monthly bill for the transactions performed during the billing period. The bill date and due date are often not the same for all users.

Many times, you might have fretted about the charges levied on your credit card transactions. However, there is a certain methodology that the bank uses to calculate the charge levied on your card while generating the bill. Check the illustration below to understand the billing method:

* Let's says if the statement date is 2nd of every month and payment due date is 22nd of every month

* The interest-free period is from the 3rd of every month to 22nd of the next month provided the previous outstanding balance is paid in full. Making only the minimum payment every month would result in the repayment stretching over years with consequent interest payment shooting up on your outstanding balance.

* Cardholder makes a retail purchase of Rs 1200 on 30th April, therefore the total amount due on the statement dated 2nd May is Rs 1200 to be paid before 22nd May.

* On 21st May, the cardholder pays the minimum amount due of Rs 200.

* On 25th May, cardholder makes a fresh purchase of Rs 1,000.

Statement dated 2nd June would show the following components:

A late payment is also levied if a cardholder fails to make the payment of minimum amount due. Also, you must remember that bank also levies annual card fee once a year. It also reflects in the bill.