MBNA (AA) credit card sleight of hand

thegoodman

prowla wrote: »

Let's clarify again - I am not talking about making up an overdue payment, but instead about making an additional early payment.

As far as the "late" thing goes, I meant the smart way is to pay as short a time as possible before the due by date; that maximises your interest free period and avoids charges. Actually I do this with my main card(s) and pay the amount in full each month, but I simply took my eye of the ball with this one and got caught out.

You are wrong about the interest free period though; in your May/June example:

• Statement date 1st May, due by date 20th. That statement includes purchases up to, eg. April 25th. So if I pay on the 2nd then I have 1 week's credit on those most recent items, whereas if I pay on the 19th I have 3+ week's credit.
• Assuming I go on purchasing items, then the pattern repeats just the same the next month, with the statement including items from April 26th to May 25th, and so paying on the 2nd would again give 1 week's credit for those recent items.

It seems to me that the T&Cs are not precise in their wording and don't cover the situation, and so cannot be understood.

Or can you point me to the exact place where they do cover the circumstance?

Refer to eg below, apart from the first month you will have 30 day credit regardless of if you pay a day after the statement or last day of due date.
Your statement date 1st of May, due by date 20th. You made the payment on 2nd of May, a day after the statement. 1day credit

After the 1st first month the number of days you get the free credit stay the same.

Next month statement date 1st of June, you made the payment on 2. This give you 30 day credit. If you have been making the payments on 20th still you will get 30 days.

ThatS why smart people make payments early to avoid charges not late.

It seem you don't know how credit product works. If I was you I will spend some time understanding them as the mistake can cost you a lot of £.

prowla

thegoodman wrote: »

Refer to eg below, apart from the first month you will have 30 day credit regardless of if you pay a day after the statement of last day of due date.
Your statement date 1st of May, due by date 20th. You made the payment on 2nd of May, a day after the statement. 1day credit

After the 1st first month the number of days you get the free credit stay the same.

Next month statement date 1st of June, you made the payment on 2. This give you 30 day credit. If you have been making the payments on 20th still you will get 30 days.

That why smart people make payments early to avoid charges not late.

It seem you don't know how credit product works. If I was you I will spend some time understanding them as the mistake can cost you a lot of £.

No:

• Suppose you receive your May bill with a due date of the 20th and which includes a number of items; the earliest of which was purchased on 1st April and the latest purchased on 30th April. If you pay on the 2nd May then you have received 31 days interest free on the earliest item, and only 2 days on the latest. If you pay on the 20th then you have received 49 days interest free on the earliest item and 22 days on the latest.
• June's bill would then include items from 1st May to 31st May, and the target dates just increment by 1 month and the interest free credit durations are identical.

Can you explain why is is smart to make the payments early then?

And, regardless of when you pay, you do not get 30 days credit on an item purchased just before a statement is issued.

I think you are confusing the ability to pay at 30 day intervals with the number of days credit you get on purchases.

tomsco

prowla wrote: »

They do not say when a "month" closes, and they do not cover making payments within a given month before that month's statement has been issued.

Or can you point me to the exact place where they do cover the circumstance?

As I believe you've acknowledged, the T&C's state you will receive a date to make a payment by on your statement to avoid any penalty. Obviously if you're not making a payment between these dates you will receive said penalty.

That T&C's do not need to exclusively state that payments outside of these periods will exclude you from penalty as the conditions of inclusion imply this and if you don't understand these conditions, it's up to you to seek guidance before you agree to them. Did you read and comprehend the T&C's before you agreed to taking out credit?

chattychappy

prowla wrote: »

happy to attibute things

By the way, it is "attribute"..

Must be some kind of sleight of hand!

Millie_Millsters

prowla wrote: »

• "You have the right to repay the credit early at any time in full or partially.",

But they don't add "but your payments won't count towards your next statement".

Well I for one would be really p'd off if any payment wasn't credited immediately, to the current statement!

redpete

It seems to me that, because of the way the OP ran this account, some months the OP made more than the minimum payment and some months made no payment at all.

Most people would expect that the payment asked for on a statement should be made by the due date also on that statement. Any previous payments (including these 'early' payments) would be shown on the statement and would have reduced the balance, and maybe reduced the minimum payment amount; it seems odd to me to expect the CC company to ignore the minimum payment requirement in any particular month because of payments that might have been made previously.. How far back do you expect them to go? If I pay off my bill in full one month should I therefore be exempt from the minimum payments for the next 12 months because I've paid so much 'in advance'?

This is not sleight of hand (it's int he Ts&Cs and matches what most people would consider common sense) and it's not just MBNA (all CCs would do the same.

Now, if the OP had complained about refunds not being counted towards the minimum payment nor towards full repayment to avoid interest then I would have had more sympathy.

chattychappy

Millie_Millsters wrote: »

Well I for one would be really p'd off if any payment wasn't credited immediately, to the current statement!

They are credited to the account immediately and interest will stop running in respect of them from the day they are received.

The OP's issue is nothing to do with payments not being credited to the account. It is a matter of failing to pay amounts according to what has been agreed.

prowla

chattychappy wrote: »

By the way, it is "attribute"..

Must be some kind of sleight of hand!

Just a typo (or fat fingers of hand)

MonkeyMad

60 posts in and still not got it. Incredible.

prowla

redpete wrote: »

It seems to me that, because of the way the OP ran this account, some months the OP made more than the minimum payment and some months made no payment at all.

Most people would expect that the payment asked for on a statement should be made by the due date also on that statement. Any previous payments (including these 'early' payments) would be shown on the statement and would have reduced the balance, and maybe reduced the minimum payment amount; it seems odd to me to expect the CC company to ignore the minimum payment requirement in any particular month because of payments that might have been made previously.. How far back do you expect them to go? If I pay off my bill in full one month should I therefore be exempt from the minimum payments for the next 12 months because I've paid so much 'in advance'?

This is not sleight of hand (it's int he Ts&Cs and matches what most people would consider common sense) and it's not just MBNA (all CCs would do the same.

Now, if the OP had complained about refunds not being counted towards the minimum payment nor towards full repayment to avoid interest then I would have had more sympathy.

Thanks, but that is exactly what I am complaining about - repayments made were not counted towards the minimum payment. It's in the OP.