Credit cycles have several important dates and time periods associated with them.

• Cycle closing date—This is the day of the month that the cycle closes. If the cardholder initiates a debit or credit after this date, it goes on the next cycle. How this day is set depends on the calendar management strategy used.
• Due date—This is the nominal date by which the cardholder must pay at least the minimum amount due (MAD) in order to avoid late charges. How the due date is set depends on the calendar management strategy used.
• Grace period—The period between the cycle closing date and the due date.
• Real due date—This is the actual date by which the cardholder must pay the MAD to avoid late charges. For example, if a due date falls on a non-business day, such as a weekend or a public holiday, the cardholder should be able to pay on the next business day without incurring a penalty. An institution might also choose to add additional grace days after the due date. For more information, refer to Calculating the real due date.

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The real due date can be the same as the due date if the due date does not fall on a non-business day, and no additional grace days are defined.

Adding additional grace days

You have the option of giving the cardholder some extra time after the due date to pay the MAD without incurring late charges. To do this, set the program parameter Defines the number of additional grace days granted to the program. There's usually no need to let account holders know about this extra time—it's just a way of giving them a little more leeway before they start to accrue charges, effectively extending the grace period. Officially, though, the grace period still refers only to the period between the cycle closing date and the due date.

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Defines the number of additional grace days granted to the programworks with all calendar management strategies.

Calculating the real due date

To calculate the real due date, the Pismo platform must take into account:

• Weekends—Countries differ in how they define weekends. Use the Non-business days program parameter to set which days of the week your program should treat as non-business days. For example, if you want to designate Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, set Non-business days to 67, since Saturday and Sunday are the sixth and seventh day of the week, respectively.
• Public holidays—Use the List holidays endpoint to define public holidays.
• Additional grace days—You can add additional grace days by setting the program parameter Defines the number of additional grace days granted to the program to a number above zero. This gives customers an extra few days after their designated due date before interest and penalties start accruing.

The Pismo platform uses the following steps to calculate the real due date.

1. The platform adds the value of any additional grace days to the due date.
2. If the result of the last step is a business day, this is the real due date. If it's a non-business day, the real due date is the next available business day.