Processing time on Balance Transfers

MaccyD

My husband recently transfered a balance from one credit card to another.

He made the transfer on the 15th of the month, the date of the payment deadline, so he didn't have to pay interest on the balance for the previous month.

The old credit card statement showed that the transfer happened on the 15th. The new credit card statement shows the debt starting from the 15th - i.e. the same day.

Now the old credit card company want to charge him a late fee and interest on the balance because they say it takes several days to process the balance transfer. Surely, if the balance shows on the new credit card then the debt has been handed over that day, it is no longer with the old credit card and they cannot charge a late fee or interest?

The old credit card company have so far said there is nothing they can do to help.

Any advice?

Apricot

If he Bt'd on the day of the payment deadline then he was too late. In effect he made a payment to his cc on the payment deadline, it clearly states in t&cs of cc's that payments will day x no of days to clear.
I don't think there is anything that can be done Im afraid.

lisyloo

I think what you have missed is that most forms of payment have a "clearance time" even cash sometimes.
It can take serveral days for a payment to clear, hence you need to make payments in advance of the deadline to allow for this.

CannyJock

Can take up to 2 weeks for a BT to be fully processed. Never saw one go through in less than 3 days - standard BACS clearance times - and I've been doing them for a while.

By leaving it until the last minute, he's left it way too late. Only thing he can do now is pay the late payment fee plus any interest in full. If he'd paid the minimum and BT's the rest would have avoided the problem of the missed payment fee at least.

MaccyD

Thanks all! We'll just have to hold our hands up and admit that we got it wrong, but it's good to hear it from unbiased sources.