Accidental purchase

downshifter98

Hi. I understand that if I make a small accidental purchase on a balance transfer card I will be charged interest on the purchase amount from day one - can I make an immediate payment to cover the purchase and thus stop any further interest being charged.

Regards

YorkshireBoy

Depends on the card provider. Some will only allocate payments to statemented transactions.


Shouldn't have happened though, because the BT card shouldn't have been in your purse/wallet!

downshifter98

It hasn't actually happened (yet) but just realised that a card that now has a balance transfer was used (before the bt was made) to book a one night hotel stay next week - no charge will be made until at the hotel and I'm hoping I can just switch to my current cc but it just got me wondering....the balance transfer card is Barclaycard.

YorkshireBoy

downshifter98 wrote: »

the balance transfer card is Barclaycard.

Take a look at your T&Cs, specifically the 'allocation of payments' section.

downshifter98

Just discovered it's easy to change cc details with booking.com - phew. Thanks for advice.

Ben8282

If you do accidentally use the card it is no big deal really. Wait until next statement date. DO NOT PAY BEFORE THE NEXT STATEMENT. When the new statement has been issued immediately pay the amount that you have spent and any interest shown. The payment will be allocated to the interest and purchase not the balance transfer amount. Yes you will pay interest on the purchase for the number of days that it was on your account. The interest charged will be minimal. If the hotel room cost say £100 for the night and even if that purchase was on the account for a whole month the interest charged would be unlikely to exceed £2.
Also don't forget that the payment you make will count towards/cover your minimum payment for the month so you will have saved yourself some or all of the minimum payment (which of course reduces the 0% balance). This is either good or bad depending on your viewpoint but you can always pay more if you want.