What is Statement credit?

A statement credit is an amount the card issuer refunds against qualifying purchases instead of awarding points for them.

Also called: Card credit.

How it works#

Credits are usually restricted to certain merchants, released in monthly or half-yearly slices, and lost if unused. When judging an annual fee, only the portion that would have been spent anyway counts. A credit that prompts a purchase which would otherwise never have happened is not value received but a discount on extra spending.

Not to be confused with#

A statement credit is not the same as a merchant refund: one comes from the card issuer as a benefit, the other from the seller after a cancelled or returned purchase.

In German#

The German term is Gutschrift auf die Abrechnung. German version of this term

Related terms#

• Annual fee: An annual fee is the fixed yearly price of holding a card, charged regardless of how much is spent on it or which benefits are used.
• Product change: A product change is swapping an existing card for a different one from the same issuer without closing the account and reapplying.
• Welcome bonus: A welcome bonus is a one-off points credit for opening a new card and meeting a minimum spending requirement within a set period.

Articles that use this term#

• At what annual fee does a travel card stop paying for itself?
• Cancel the card or downgrade it?
• What does your card’s travel insurance actually cover?
• What is a point actually worth, and how do you work it out yourself?
• When collecting points isn’t worth it
• How does transferring points to an airline work?