Help understanding credit card interest

andrewtayloruk

Hi,

I've had credit cards for a number of years and I've always paid the balance in full. Recently I've had a Barclay card with 0% interest for a promotional period. The balance last month (which was the final month at 0%) was £1700.89, I made a full payment of 1700.89 before it was due.

This month I have received a statement, with a balance of £15.78. £12 for something I purchased and £3.78 interest.

Last months balance was cleared in full, this month can't have any interest because it's not due to be paid yet, obviously also, the amount of £3.78 is too high for a single transaction of £12.00. This months's statement confirms last month's balance was paid in full.

Any ideas how this comes about? I've tried phoning barclay card but their computers are offline. I don't understand, I cleared last months balance, how can there be any interest to pay?

Thanks for any suggestions, I'm not sure what's going on.

Andrew

normanmark

Interest is calculated on a daily rate.

The interest is calculated from the date on the statement till when you made that payment in full.

With it being a promotional period you need to double check on that. Most promotional periods go by when the card was opened, not by the statement. Barclaycard will be able to clarify that date for you.

andrewtayloruk

So basically it's the amount of interest on the balance between the date the statement was raised and the date the balance was paid?

Thanks for the feedback, it seems like it's another way the Credit Card companies screw you; I've got no problem paying what I owe, but, I can't be expected to work out what I owe and overpay my statement to account for it, that's what the statement is for, to tell me how much to pay.

Thanks again

Andrew

nomoneytoday

There will be trailing interest unless you pay 2 months in full.

This was overwritten by the 0% offer, but as this didn't end on the same day as your payment it would create a small amount of residual interest - in this case the £3.78

normanmark

andrewtayloruk wrote: »

So basically it's the amount of interest on the balance between the date the statement was raised and the date the balance was paid?

Thanks for the feedback, it seems like it's another way the Credit Card companies screw you; I've got no problem paying what I owe, but, I can't be expected to work out what I owe and overpay my statement to account for it, that's what the statement is for, to tell me how much to pay.

Thanks again

Andrew

It's not a way to screw you. Look at it this way, the companies do not have a crystal ball. So they cannot predict when you'll pay off that balance in full. All they can do is calculate the days from when that statement is dated to when you paid it off in full & then bill you for that interest at a later date.

p00hsticks

Are you 100% sure that the 0% offer ended on the 'payment due' date and not on the 'statement date', which they often do ?

As previous posters has said, once you are in a position where interest starts to be charged, you need to make sure that you pay off two consecutive bills in full to stop getting charged interest (due to the fact that interest continues to accumulate in the peeriod between when the first statement is produced and when you pay of the balance - it is this additonal interest whcih shows up in the second month).