Natwest Platinum 0% BT scam - check your statements

phipps73

Hi,

This is just to warn fellow mse followers to beware of the Natwest Platinum Mastercard 0% deal. I had recently set up an e-ISA with Natwest and as such qualified for the 0% BT on the Platinum card which I applied for and transferred £1800. This carried a fee of £52.20. The first statement rolled in and stupidly I misplaced it and missed the payment - £12 fee (my fault so no complaint). When the next statement arrived with the fee applied I dug through a pile of 'old' paperwork and found the first statement. I noticed in the Important Information section that the intro rate on purchases would expire in November - not a problem I thought as I was only using it as a BT card. Then I checked the Summary of Balances section and noticed that the original £52.20 fee was listed in the Purchases section. Then on the newest statement this was now £64.20. So my 0% BT card now had £1800 at 0% + £64.20 as a purchase at 16.9%.

What a scam - if I had gone to the end of the 0% period, I would have been accruing interest on the £64.20 over the 15 months of the deal approx. £70 interest! So the fee would actually have been £52.20 + £70 = £122.20!

So if you have a Natwest Platinum card - check your statement. I closed the account - paid off the full balance and then closed all my accounts with them. I now remember why I stopped using Natwest 15 or so years ago!

Cheers,

Dave

izools

It's worth noting that all credit card companies that I've ever come accross have a term that clearly stipulates all introductory offers only apply if you make payments on time and stay within your limit.

If you're even a day late - for whatever reason - all bets are off and your 0% offer goes bye bye!

So not only could you end up paying above the odds for the transfer fee, but in your case, you wouldn't get the offer anyway!

I hope you manage(d) to get another 0% deal

Might be worth setting up a DD for the minimum amount in future to save from having intro offers cancelled

YorkshireBoy

You could have avoided the interest on the fee by repaying it as soon as the BT was made. See the 'allocation of payments' info in the summary box.

As it is, by moving your accounts (which I must say you've managed to do very quickly!) you seem to have cut your nose off to spite your face!

BTW, I'm surprised they didn't revoke the 0% BT rate due to the missed payment, as is normally the case when you breach the T&Cs of your agreement.


PS:

£64.20 x 16.9% / 12 * 15 equates to approximately £13.56 interest, not £70, so it appears you've lost out big time with this one having paid a £52.20 fee for (almost) nothing.


PPS:

The first 3 months were interest free, so you'd only pay interest for the last 12 months...a grand total of (64.20 x 16.9% £10.85


And finally, haven't the 'rules' changed recently in that they can no longer charge interest on default fees? That means, of course, the only damage was the £12 fee...something of which you said yourself "my fault so no complaint".

Mountain and molehill?

phipps73

Hi izools,

Thanks for the reply, actually the 0% deal seems to have survived the missed payment. The problem was actually apparent on the 1st statement. This listed the BT @ 0% and also the BT fee of £52.20 as a purchase. The 1st statement also stated that the intro offer on purchases would end mid-November. I then missed the payment and the next statement arrived with the BT fee now increased by the late fee. The BT was still listed as £1800 @ 0% and the Purchases now £64.20 still at 0% but soon to be at 16.9% in mid-November as stated in the 1st statement.

I can understand that a missed payment would be a deal breaker but it seems that Natwest had already pulled a fast one. At the end of the 15 month 0% period I would have found that the £64.20 would have accrued interest during those 15 months and would now be approx. £122!

So we cleared the debt - we had the savings earning pretty much nothing and took all of our business away from Natwest - I remember having problems with them in the past - some things never change!

Cheers,

Dave

phipps73

Ok so my maths sucks! It's the principle, no other cc company has ever put the BT fee on as a purchase. They always add it to the BT. And, yes probably did cut off nose to spite face but felt Natwest had deceived me - ignoring the missed payment which was entirely my fault and I wouldn't have a problem with losing the deal as that is the norm for these things. But, if the fee is 2.5% then that should be it - not 2.5% plus 12 months interest at 16.9%.

YorkshireBoy

phipps73 wrote: »

no other cc company has ever put the BT fee on as a purchase.

You've been lucky in your choice of cards. LTSB, Egg, and RBS & Mint (same group as your NatWest card) do/did it. I believe Barclaycard also used to do it but don't now.

LeeSouthEast

Barclaycard just bully you into taking CCP instead. Although that worked out at £9 interest.

kindofaverage

can I ask those in the know and if I have read it correctly - that balance transfer fees are classed as purchases - is this the same for virgin please?

NickX

kindofaverage wrote: »

can I ask those in the know and if I have read it correctly - that balance transfer fees are classed as purchases - is this the same for virgin please?

No Virgin do not charge interest on Balance Transfer fees.

YorkshireBoy has listed the providers that do charge interest on Balance Transfer fees - mainly Lloyds TSB, Egg and RBS run cards (inc MINT, Ulster Bank, NatWest).

I do think it is a rather sneaky practice though.