Problem with Halifax One Credit Card

phil_han

Hi, all.

Hope I am posting in the right place...

I am having quite an experience with my Halifax One Credit Card at the moment. :mad:

My Special Offer Period ended this March and I paid back the full closing balance before the due date.

Fast forward two months, and today I've received a post from Halifax saying that I have outstanding payment which hasn't paid. As I have not made no payment in April, I have been charged an interest as well as £12 late payment fee. (I've not received my statement for April, probably "lost in Royal Mail" apparently...)

I call Halifax's customer service to check how I managed to accrue this amount without spending a penny, and they tell me that I've not paid "Next Month's Estimated Interest" for March. Although they agree the full closing balance for March has been paid by 1st April (Due Date: 6th April), they are still going to charge for interest between Statement Date (11th March) till payment date, and this provision would have been stated in T&C. :eek:

Dumbfounded, I hang up and check original T&C's as well as Credit Card Statement, and find nothing specifying such conditions. Calling again, I talk to another chap, who says T&C has been changed and customers have been notified last year and I should pay. :mad:

So... the questions would be:
1) Is Halifax now charging "Estimated Interest" to customers regardless of whether they pay full closing balance or pay minimum payment?

2) I have not received this change in T&C from Halifax last year, would this matter?

3) Do Halifax have one of the worst relationship with Royal Mail? Their posts always seem to "get lost in Royal Mail".

If anyone could give me some advice, it would be much appreciated.

Moggles_2

If you decided to pay off your March statement balance in full, having made the minimum or a partial payment the previous month (February), residual interest (or trailing interest as it's sometimes known) would accrue on a daily basis from the date of your last statement to the day the funds are credited to your account.

If you were to settle the statemented balance in full for two consecutive months, you would have x days interest-free on purchases once again. This applies to all credit cards, not just Halifax All in One card.

phil_han

Whoa... I've had no idea about existence of Residual Interest, as I've never had an issue with any other credit companies...

Thanks for your reply, Moggles. I was just about to check myself in with high blood pressure.... ;-p

Moggles_2

phil_han wrote: »

I've had no idea about existence of Residual Interest, as I've never had an issue with any other credit companies.

Don't worry, you're not the first to be dumbfounded and you won't be the last.

If you normally use credit cards solely for purchases and settle your statement balance in full by the payment due date, you would not encounter residual interest. It's when a 0% deal is about to end, that you need to watch out