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Credit card grace period: what it means

On a credit card, the grace period is the time between the end of your billing cycle and the payment due date. According to the CFPB, during that time you are not charged interest on purchases if you pay the full balance by the due date.

In Spanish it is

Período de gracia (grace period)

Also written as: grace period · interest-free period

A hand takes a leaflet out of a mailbox at an apartment building.

Verified on October 17, 2026

1 official source

See the whole dictionary

The full explanation

The law does not require card companies to offer one, but most do for purchases. If you do not pay the full balance, you lose the grace period: you are charged interest on what is left and on new purchases from the day you make them. Cash advances generally start charging interest on the day of the transaction.

An example

Lucía uses her secured card for gas and pays the full balance every month before the due date. That way she keeps the grace period and pays no interest on those purchases.

You will see it in…

Your card statement, next to the payment due date
The rates and fees table on a card application
Your credit card agreement

Words that go with it

You will rarely see this word alone. These are the ones that show up with it on the same papers.

Still confused by a paper?

A HUD-approved housing counselor can walk you through it. Agencies usually charge little or nothing, many work in Spanish, and they do not sell you anything.

What a housing counselor does See free help

Official sources

We sum up what these official sources say, in plain words. We add no rules they do not state; when a rule changes, the definition and its date change.

1. CFPB · What is a grace period for a credit card? (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026