Closing a Vanquis credit card account

owensmum75

Hi all!

I had a Vanquis credit card (first mistake right there!!).
I paid off the full balance on the 21st February and called them on the 28th of Feb to permanently close the account. I asked them to calculate any interest owed up to the day I cleared the balance and I would pay that off too. The advisor I spoke to said I couldn't do this and I would have to wait until my next statement was due on the 10th of March and pay interest accrued on the old balance up to that date. Effectively calculating interest on the balance I had before I cleared it! Are they allowed to do this?

jen245

Yes its called trailing interest, which is calculated from the date your statement was generated until the balance was paid off in full, which will be due on your next statement. Standard practice for credit cards

YorkshireBoy

owensmum75 wrote: »

I had a Vanquis credit card (first mistake right there!!).

No. Carrying a revolving balance on a Vanquis card was the mistake, not simply having/using it.

I asked them to calculate any interest owed up to the day I cleared the balance...

They wouldn't be able to do this because, at that time, they would have no idea when your payment would credit the account. Card payments can take 2-3 (even 5 if a weekend is involved) days to clear. A cheque can take a week or more depending on postal delays. Even an FP may not clear until next day if a 3rd party collection account is used.

Effectively calculating interest on the balance I had before I cleared it!

You don't pay interest on monies already paid. You accrue interest each day on that day's closing balance...so after your large payment the daily interest accruing will be much reduced.

owensmum75

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

No. Carrying a revolving balance on a Vanquis card was the mistake, not simply having/using it. ;)They wouldn't be able to do this because, at that time, they would have no idea when your payment would credit the account. Card payments can take 2-3 (even 5 if a weekend is involved) days to clear. A cheque can take a week or more depending on postal delays. Even an FP may not clear until next day if a 3rd party collection account is used.You don't pay interest on monies already paid. You accrue interest each day on that day's closing balance...so after your large payment the daily interest accruing will be much reduced.

The advisor told me the account was clear so the payment had gone through when I called....

YorkshireBoy

owensmum75 wrote: »

The advisor told me the account was clear so the payment had gone through when I called....

The balance was zero. However, you were still accruing interest (because you hadn't paid the last statement in full), so your balance would increase by the value of this (residual) interest figure on your next statement date.