MBNA SONYCARD minimum £1 interest charge

wendylireland

I carried out a balance transfer for a friend onto a 0% for 12 months offer. I had the intention of paying this off before the end of the offer. This month I have received my statement from MBNA Sonycard which now has a charge of £1 for "minimum interest charge".
Is it legal for MBNA to suddenly begin adding this charge? I know it is not a lot, but over the remainder of the 0% offer will add up to another £6 which I didn't expect to have to pay.
I expect I received a leaflet in a statement some time ago and it was in the small print. Is this now a common occurrence with all credit cards?

YorkshireBoy

Have you used the card for any purchases?
Do you have PPI on there?

wendylireland

no, I have not spent on the card at all. The transfer fee was added to the amount transferred, that is all.

YorkshireBoy

Then you need to call MBNA and ask them why you've incurred interest.

wendylireland

Thanks, I was just checking whether this is a "new" charge that has just been introduced to stop people from using the interest free periods and paying it off before the end. Also whether anyone else has had this experience with any credit card.

YorkshireBoy

It's not a new charge, or a way to stop you using 0% offers.

That card has 12 months 0% on BTs but only 6 months 0% on purchases.

The reason I asked about any purchases is that it would coincide with your "£6 by the end of the deal" statement.

If you had used it for purchases your repayments would have gone towards reducing this debt first. But, because you hadn't settled the entire balance by the end of the first 6 months, these purchases would accrue residual, or trailing, interest going forward. Probably pennies a month, but they round it up to £1.

Something's amiss with your account, so MBNA are the best people to help you here.

wendylireland

ok cheers I will give them a call. :beer:

malcolmffc

Nope, it's because the MBNA terms and conditions explain that a minimum of £1 per month interest is charged, if any interest at all (even zero) is payable.

The subtlety is that there's a difference between no interest at all (if you pay off in full) and zero interest on a 0% credit card where there is an outstanding balance. If you don't pay off the card in full, you incur £0.00 in interest, which MBNA then increase to £1.00.

oki25

The only reason you will be paying interest is if there is something on the card accruing it, they would not be charging it otherwise. Call them and they will summarise the statement for you, only take a few mins