Computing the unpaid balance for a credit card statement
Two-part: compute the interest charged on the prior month's unpaid balance, then assemble the new balance from beginning balance, payments, purchases, and that interest.
A short walkthrough explaining what you need to know and how to solve this question type lands here once it's recorded.
ALEKS randomizes the numbers each attempt, but the question shape stays the same. Here are three example versions you might see.
The table below shows a summary of Priya's credit card statement for the month of February.
| Transaction types | Amount |
|---|---|
| Unpaid balance from January (Beginning balance on February 1) | $782.50 |
| Payments made during the month of February | $90.00 |
| Purchases made during the month of February | $245.30 |
(a) Suppose the credit card company charges 1.5% monthly interest on the unpaid balance from January. How much interest will this be?
(b) What will Priya's unpaid balance be on her March 1 statement? (Assume that this balance will include the interest from part (a), but will not include any interest on her February balance yet.)
Marcus's credit card statement for July: beginning balance (unpaid from June) $1,124.40, payments $150.00, purchases $320.18, monthly rate 1.4%.
(a) Find the interest charged.
(b) Find Marcus's unpaid balance on August 1.
Lena's credit card statement for September: beginning balance (unpaid from August) $465.00, payments $45.00, purchases $112.50, monthly rate 1.6%.
(a) Find the interest charged.
(b) Find Lena's unpaid balance on October 1.
new balance = beginning − payments + purchases + interest
Identify the four numbers from the table.
Beginning balance on Feb 1: $782.50. Payments: $90.00. Purchases: $245.30. Monthly rate: 1.5% = 0.015.
Compute the interest charge (part a).
The credit card company charges interest only on the unpaid balance from January — that's $782.50.
Assemble the March 1 balance (part b).
Start with the beginning balance, subtract payments, add purchases, add the interest you just computed.
Sanity check: even though Priya paid $90, her balance went UP because purchases ($245) plus interest ($12) outweighed the payment.
Try Marcus's July statement. Same shape, different numbers.
Compute the interest charge.
Net the payments and purchases.
Assemble the August 1 balance.
You've walked through the whole problem.
That's the move. ALEKS will give you a different version with different numbers — but the steps are the same.