Barclaycard Interest Rates ?....Illegal ?

Droffats

I have a Barclaycard with a £13,200 limit. My last six statement balances have been £5900, £2800, £2080, £1565, £12124 and £6600. This month`s statement has just come through with an interest charge (on my so-called Standard Balance..whatever THAT is ? ...) of £362-25 !!! The interest rate stated is 1.873%, so, according to my limited mathematical skills, this must mean that my "Standard Balance" must be in the region of £19,340 ! ie. at least 50% higher, constantly, than my "limit" (which has never been exceeded).
I had a very similar situation in February 2009 and again in September 2010.
I have a file full of letters that I have written to Barclaycard as a result of these instances, but all I ever get back is an envelope full of leaflets and a "Standard" letter. I even tried the Financial Ombudsman route the first time, but they just "passed the buck" + said it was a matter for the Office of Fair Trading...and even THAT answer was not received until NINE MONTHS after I had raised my query with them.
It really seems to be a "Closed Shop".
Please can someone tell me, is the Office of Fair Trading my only option ?...surely, this should be sorted out by Barclaycard themselves ?....Does anyone have any suggestions / contacts / advice, please ?
Thank you.
Trevor.

[Deleted User]

What's your balance comprised of? How much cash, how much retail? Are there fees on the accounts? What's the miunium payment (both amount and calculation)?

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

I'm surprised you keep your Barclaycard after you've had so much hassle. There are plenty more fish in the sea. Time to change provider.

Degenerate

You appear to have a very high throughput through the account. Are you running up the card then making interim payments before the statement date? I seem to recall Barclaycard may have done something sneaky with the way they apply payments to the account that could be relevant.

Also, have they given you any explanation for why your interest rate is so high?

redpete

Illegal? Highly unlikely.

If you are paying interest then you are not paying off the full amount each month; in this case the amount shown owing on the statement date is not fully relevant, you need to look at the balance over the whole period for which interest is being charged (from the statement date before the earliest one that you failed to pay off completely by the date required).

For example:

Statement dated 15th Dec, balance £2000, paid off in full by due date, no interest paid

Statement dated 15th Jan, balance £4000 includes £0 interest, not paid off in full by due date.

Statement dated 15th Feb, balance £3000 includes interest charged on daily balance from 16th Dec (not from 15th Jan).

Now I might have confused myself, but I think that is correct and should explain why you think the rate is higher than it actually is.

The Ts&Cs say something about interest being charged from the date that an item appears on the account, so might go even further back than the day after the previous statement date - i.e. items not cleared by the payment have interest charged from the date the transaction appears.

(on my so-called Standard Balance..whatever THAT is ? ...)

normal purchases, e.g. not cash advance or balance transfers.

opinions4u

I'd hazard a guess that the account is being used for gambling.

Transactional fees and higher interest rates. Multiple debits and credits through the month.

Droffats

Hi zx81, thanks for the reply.
All retail purchases, no cash advances.
No other fees on the account, apart from the interest.
Minimum payment this month is shown as £368-50.
Not sure how the minimum payment is calculated, sorry, it doesn`t say on the statement.
Trevor.

izools

Was your last statement paid in full? Was the one before that?

Droffats

I know...it must look a bit foolish, but I just keep thinking that they are making mistakes + will eventually refund me.
Surely, a reputable company such as Barclaycard cannot be charging interest so much higher than everyone else ?

jamesd

You seem not to be paying the full balance so at a minimum you're paying interest on every purchase until it's paid off.

Yes, they can charge interest rates higher than other companies, or lower. It depends on the card type and person.

Why not go for either a 0% for purchases card put spending on that, using the spending money to make daily payments to the Barclaycard of the amount spent? Or a balance transfer card like the Virgin one?

Droffats

Gambling ?....how on Earth did you work THAT one out ?
Sorry to disappoint you, "opinions4u", but I am self-employed and have to use the card to purchase materials for my work...sometimes this can involve fairly high sums of money.
I have never "gambled" in my life and, to be honest, I find your suggestion rather offensive.