Natwest Visa - do all cards work this way with regards paying the balance?

Retrovertigo

I have a natwest vise which to be honest, I never usually use. I got it a few years back to make a small monthly payment to a company that at the time didn't take debit cards.

Anyway, for protection I used it to buy something off the net the other week. However, after a couple of weeks had passed, I still couldn't pay off the purchase.

I have a natwest account so kept going online to try and pay off the balance, but each time it just gave me a warning it couldn't be paid as it wasn't yet cleared on my card.

In the end I called the natwest and they told me that until they post me a bill, the money doesn't appear as a proper charge on my credit card. The statements are sent to me the 21st of every month.

I questioned that, if I therefore bought something on the 22nd-23rd of the month, I would have to wait a full month before being able to pay off the balance - but here is the catch, payments take 3-4 days to clear with them, meaning I'd actually go past the month allowed to pay the balance with no charge.

I asked the guy if that was the case, to which he replied "yes".

Now, maybe I'm just naive here as I don't usually use credit cards, but surely that can't be right.....can it?

jen245

No, you have from when the statement is generated, until the payment due date to make a payment, which can be anything up to 4 weeks after the statement is generated. eg you buy something on the 22nd April, your statement is generated on the 21st of each month, so the next statement will be 21st May, your payment due date, for argument sake, is 18th June, you have from the 21st May until 18th June for your payment to reach your cc account

Retrovertigo

That is a relief - and the guy I spoke to needs re-training. I did ask him if I had a month from purchase or a month from my statement date. And he said it was the purchase date and so I would indeed not always have a full month to pay.

Thanks for putting my mind at ease

jen245

Just make sure you check your statement for the payment due date, to make sure you send it in time