Asda charging interest despite 0% balance transfer

sadcjp_2

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]I have an Asda credit card and was offered 0% interest free balance transfer which I arranged. I also then made a purchase using the card.

Upon receiving my statement Asda have tried to charge interest on the purchase even though I have not had the opportunity to pay the purchase off as the due date is still some 3 weeks away.

It is a con to charge interest prior to a person being sent a statement to pay off any purchase in full simply because there is a 0% balance transfer on the account.

Surely, it can't be legal for Asda to make an interest charge for a purchase prior to the payment due date. If there was no balance transfer then I wouldn't have been charged interest.

Thus what they are doing is charging interest immediately on making a purchase just because there is a zero percent balance transfer on the account.

How can they charge interest without issuing a statement allowing the customer the chance to pay off the purchase?[/FONT][/FONT]

sfax

You only pay £0 interest for up to 56 days if you pay the balance off in full each month. If you have a BT balance, you don't get this benefit.

Don't mix purchases and BTs.

thenudeone

Don't mix purchases and 0% balance transfers on the same card.

Purchases are only interest free if the whole statement balance (not just the purchases) is paid off in full every month.

This catches lots of people out.

molerat

And you will pay interest next month as well.

gglaze

Hi,

More detail on this thread where we've just been discussing this:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4484303

andymd

I had a similar problem with Tesco. I was offered a 0% BT on a card I used for purchases. I took them up on the offer and repaid my purchases in full by the due date but as I hadn't cleared the full statement balance (including the BT) they charged me interest.

I queried this and they insisted that although it 'was confusing' it was allowed in their T&Cs but after a written complaint, they refunded the interest, the BT fee and the next month's interest.

The advice on here will be not to mix purchases and BT, which of course is correct, but the fact remains that the bank should warn you that unless your card is clear before doing the BT you will incur interest.

I suspect Tesco rolled over so easily because they realise it's unfair

thenudeone

andymd wrote: »

but the fact remains that the bank should warn you that unless your card is clear before doing the BT you will incur interest.

I suspect Tesco rolled over so easily because they realise it's unfair

They have already warned you.

It's in the terms and conditions which you agreed that you had read and understood when you applied for the card.

... and just about every credit card works the same way.

Using credit costs money. The interest free period on purchases is a special case which applies in a specific circumstance.

I'm not really sure it's unfair of a card company to charge interest when you are borrowing their money. I'm sure you'd complain if a bank didn't pay interest on your savings for a month because you'd taken the savings out of the account just after the month was up.

sfax

I agree with thenudeone. People make some strange assumptions about credit cards and how they should work.

If customers didn't mess up all of the time and pay interest unnecessarily, the rest of us would have to pay more, so I'm happy with the way it is. I have £6000 on a 0% BT from Tesco for 23 months and I'll never pay a penny in interest, just the handling fee which is cheaper than any loan over the same period

Enterprise_1701C

Tesco's can't understand why I keep turning down 0 % balance transfer offers.

Simple, I use my card for regular purchases.

They do not mix.