Credit balance on new credit card
Things are generally fine.  A credit balance is not a horrible thing.   The argument against maintaining a credit balance is that you are essentially loaning the credit card issuer money at 0% interest.  You probably have alternative investments that would pay better interest, so it's usually better to park your money there.  All that said, it's unlikely that the interest on whatever balance you have is enough to be more than pennies.   The way that a credit card works, you run up a balance in one period.  Then there is a grace period.  If you don't pay off the balance during the grace period, they start charging you interest.  You also may have a minimum payment to make.  If you don't make that payment, they'll charge you a late fee.   The typical period to rack up charges is from the first to the last day of a month.  The typical grace period is through the 20th or 25th of the next month.  Your card may be different.  So check the documentation (user agreement) for your card if you want the real data.   It sounds like you paid off some purchases while you were still in the period where you rack up charges.  While those purchases were posted to the account, they may not be counted in the balance calculation.  If your credit balance exactly matches the payment you made, that's probably what happened.  It's also possible that you overpaid the balance.  If your credit balance is just a small amount, that's probably what happened.   If you really want to be sure, you should call the credit card issuer and ask them.  At best we can tell you how it normally works.  Since this is your first month, you could just wait for your first bill and respond to that.  So long as you pay off the entire balance shown there by the deadline, everything should be fine.   Don't wait until the last day to pay.  It's usually best to pay a week or so early so as to leave time for the mail to deliver the check and for them to process it.  You can wait longer for an online payment, but a few business days early to give you a chance to handle potential problems is still good. A Credit Balance means that you overpayed. That's nothing to worry about; it will just be used up by your next charges. Note that this can have two reasons - either you really paid too much; or you paid off a charge that is still 'pending' - meaning it has not yet posted and is not considered in the amount you owe: Most charges in restaurants for example are pending for a day or more, because the original charge is your bill without tip (they don't know the tip when the run the card!), and the merchant spends his weekends or evenings to type in the final amount (including tip) and post the pending charge. If this is the case, it will settle ('get posted') in a day or two, and then it will match up.
Since you are not paying the full balance off each month you are carrying a balance from month to month. That balance is being charged some interest rate X. With a balance transfer, the new credit card pays off that balance. As a result you now have a balance of the same amount (plus any processing charges) on the new credit card. Hence the balance has transferred from the old to the new. And you now pay the new credit card. Ideally you do this because the new credit card is offering a reduced interest rate, saving you money. Though be warned often that transfer rate is a limited time deal and any left over after the window expires will be charged the higher rate. "Unless you have a history of over-using credit (i.e. you've gotten yourself into debt trouble), then I think that the banker is giving you bad advice in telling you to get your own credit limit reduced.  Having more credit available to you that is left unused will make your utilization ratio lower, which is generally better for your credit score, according to this article on CreditKarma.com.  The ""sweet spot"" seems to be 1-20% utilization of your total credit.  (But remember, this is only one factor in your credit score, and not even the biggest-- having a long history of on-time payments counts the most.) My own personal experience seems to bear this out.  I have two major credit cards that I use.  One card has a high credit limit (high for me anyway) and I use it for just about everything that I buy-- groceries, gas, durable goods, services, you name it.  The other card has a limit that is about 1/3 of the first, and I use it for a few recurring bills and occasional purchases where they don't take the first card.  I also have a couple of department store cards that I use rather infrequently (typically 1 purchase every 3 months or so).  At the end of each month, when the respective statements post, each card has a balance that is 15% or less of the credit limit on that card.  I pay off the entire balance on each card each month, and the cycle repeats.  I have never been late on a payment, and my credit history for all of these cards goes back 10 years.  My credit score is nearly as high as it can go.  If having unused credit were a detriment, I would expect my score to be much lower. So, no, having ""too much credit available"" is not going to hurt you, unless you are not using it at all, or are tempted to abuse it (use too much).  The key is to use common sense.  Have a small number of cards, keep them active, spend within your means so you can pay off the balance in full after the statement posts, and never be late on your payments.  That's all it takes to have good credit." $3,500 isn't usually enough to make a difference when calculating credit for a car loan. The other factors that you didn't mention are the important factors. How much money do you make? What is your credit score? Do you have balances on credit cards? The only way you can know is to look at your credit score and/or apply. I would generally recommend you buy a 3-4 year old car rather than a new car. With the lower purchase price you can pay it off quickly. "The best thing to do is to completely pay off one credit card, then apply the left over to the highest interest card. After that, ALL of your expenses that can be put on a credit card, should be put on the one that you just paid off. At the end of the month, pay off a different credit card and the highest interest, and move all your purchasing to that card. Keep going around the circle until you are able to pay them all off. Doing this will be good for your credit score as the debt on the cards will now be ""new"".  If you're really desperate to increase your credit score (e.g. refinancing a house) you can use balance transfers to temporarily make it appear that you have zero debt but it will cost you some money, typically balance transfers cost something like $35 + 2%." The only time the utilization percentage makes a difference is when the data is being pulled for a credit check. During the months leading up to the loan application through the settlement date of the loan keeping this percentage low makes sense. The number reported is the current value of the ratio not an average.  You can pre-fund the credit card but don't go overboard. If you keep a negative balance (lets say they owe you $100) for a few months they may decide to send you a check for the balance they owe you. You are in luck, I have an ANZ credit card as well. I have just checked my paper statement with online, and was able to find a matching online statement in less than a minute. You simply click on your credit card account from the list of accounts. Under Date Range it will have the Current incomplete statement period. You simply click on the down arrow and select the last complete date range ending sometime in late April (depending on your credit card cycle). You then press on View next to the drop down box. This should provide you with a list of purchases and payment/credits for that period, followed by a line with your Credit Limit, Available Funds and Closing Balance. The line below that then shows your Due Date, and Overdue/Overlimit, the Minimum Payment and Amount Due Now If you are after paying only the minimum amount then you pay this amount by the due date (you will be charged interest if you only pay this amount). If, on the otherhand, you wish to avoid paying any interest then you need to pay the full Closing Balance before the due date. You should also be able to get electronic statements sent to your email address. A balance transfer is paying one debt instrument with another.  While this is typically seen in credit card offers it isn't necessarily confined to credit cards. Obviously the only reason to do this is refinancing debt to a lower interest rate.  You need to watch for loads on the incoming money, there may be an upwards of 5% fee.  This calculation is materially different than your APR.  Monthly interest charges can be estimated by taking your APR divided by 12 times your balance.  So a 15% APR will have a rough monthly interest charge of 1.25%.  The 5% balance transfer fee is 4x your normal interest charge.  That fee is added to your balance and now you pay interest on the whole amount.  You need to ensure the new rate is low enough to actually benefit you after the incoming fee. "If I understand you correctly, no you shouldn't be charged interest. Lets say you have a billing cycle of monthly (which usually isn't true). You charge $XX per day, ending up at $1000 at the end of January. So February 1st, your bill for your January billing cycle is $1000, due by Feb 15th (lets say). On February 1st, you continue to charge $XX per day. You go to pay your bill online on Feb 14th (to be safe), and you'll usually see on your credit card website something like: You'd hit ""Pay my bill"", and you'd usually see these options: At the date your cycle was due (Feb 15th), if you haven't paid your full latest statement (lets say you paid $500), they will charge you interest on the entire balance for the period (so interest on $1000, or lets say $50). The other $500 will roll over to the next month, so your next month you'd be somewhere near a $1550 bill."