---
title: "What is Statement credit? | Benefit Systems"
description: "A statement credit is an amount the card issuer refunds against qualifying purchases instead of awarding points for them."
source: "aus dem gebauten HTML abgeleitet"
---
# 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](/de/glossar/gutschrift-auf-abrechnung)

## Related terms #

- [Annual fee](/en/glossary/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](/en/glossary/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](/en/glossary/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?](/en/knowledge/annual-fee-math)
- [Cancel the card or downgrade it?](/en/knowledge/cancel-or-downgrade)
- [What does your card’s travel insurance actually cover?](/en/knowledge/card-travel-insurance)
- [What is a point actually worth, and how do you work it out yourself?](/en/knowledge/point-value)
- [When collecting points isn’t worth it](/en/knowledge/when-points-arent-worth-it)
- [How does transferring points to an airline work?](/en/knowledge/points-transfer)