Tesco credit card: interest in advance!

canny_customer

I use a Tesco credit card as my main means of payment as it gives points on all purchases. However, on the last statement the balance also includes the interest for the purchases for the month. As I am one of those people who always pays the balance each month, this means I have to include the interest payment up front. If the balance is paid off in full (as mine will be) then the interest will be debited from the next month's balance. The effect will be that Tesco will be able to collect interest for themselves on my interest payments. Whilst I appreciate that credit card companies make their money from people not paying off their balances and tolerate those who do, this change in paying interest in advance seems to have crept in by the back door. As my month's purchases are in the region of several hundreds of pounds, the advance interest in quite substantial.

You are right in guessing that I will be using an alternative credit card from now on, but for how long before the other companies use the same tactic.

I would welcome people's comments on this.

chuckley

Someone else on here said they were charged interest when they paid in full as they made two different payments by the due date. apparently you can only make one.

LMFAO!

they are the dogssssss

PBA

Are you sure you're reading the statements right? All credit card statements now include the interest amount you'll be charged if you don't pay in full, but if you pay in full then this interest won't be charged to you.

Francesanne

I've had a Tesco credit card for years and pay my balance off in full each month and have never had a single problem. Have always been very happy with the service provided.

davelewis

Francesanne wrote: »

I've had a Tesco credit card for years and pay my balance off in full each month and have never had a single problem. Have always been very happy with the service provided.

Same here. I buy everything on my Tesco Mastercard Platinum and pay it off in full every month. Love the points

canny_customer

As I said I have always paid off the amount in full and having been doing this for many years.

I have never, ever seen my statement showing interest like this one:

Interest - see summary £7.68

On the reverse of the statement, in the Interest Charging Information it says:

*if you pay the balance in full, any interest charged for the period from the previous statement to the date of the full repayment will be debited the following month.

I am advising that all Tesco cc holders check their statements carefully. Even if you pay in full you are now paying possible interest charges which are then refunded the following month,

Bossyboots

the interest charging information has been on the backs of statements in that form for more than a year. I have just read the very same statement from the back of my January 2008 statement. It simply means that if you are paying interest on your statement, it will continue to accrue until the actual date of full repayment. The interest due between the date of the current statement and the date of repayment will appear on the next statement. If that statement is paid in full then no more interest will accrue.

It has also stated on the front for at least as long about the interest to be applied if you do not pay the statement off in full by the due date. If you are actually being charged any interest, then the details appear in the summary of balances box. Where no interest is payable that box is still reproduced but with the interest as zero.

If you truly have an interest payment listed in the description column of your statement, then you need to check why this is. If it is in the paragraph at the bottom under the "New Balance" line, then that is not interest being charged on your current statement but what you will pay next month if you only pay the minimum balance this month.

canny_customer

Thanks, Bossyboots, your assistance was greatly appreciated. I checked everything out with my calculator and discovered that my husband had made the payment on my behalf (kind of him), but unfortunately he had added up incorrectly and the £7.68 interest charge was on the shortfall of the payment. I pay by BACS and have a direct debit for payment of the minimum amount as an 'insurance' should I forget to make the transfer. Can't blame my husband much as he is on chemotherapy and other medications! He was doing his best.

Apologies to Tesco!

prowla

Yep - it you pay in full, you don't pay interest.
Also, the statement shows the total amount owed, so you've got nothing to calculate.

cos_2

canny_customer wrote: »

Thanks, Bossyboots, your assistance was greatly appreciated. I checked everything out with my calculator and discovered that my husband had made the payment on my behalf (kind of him), but unfortunately he had added up incorrectly and the £7.68 interest charge was on the shortfall of the payment. I pay by BACS and have a direct debit for payment of the minimum amount as an 'insurance' should I forget to make the transfer. Can't blame my husband much as he is on chemotherapy and other medications! He was doing his best.

Apologies to Tesco!

I just wanted to highlight your point about having a minimum amount Direct Debit set up. I have these on all my accounts and it's been a saving more than once, stopping me getting 'fines' and adverse reports to credit reference agencies. Everyone should do this.
Hope hubby gets better, too!