Sainsbury's Bank to change 'confusing' new credit card statements - MSE News

Former_MSE_Callum

Sainsbury's Bank has said it will change the format of its new credit card statements as soon as possible, after customers said it was difficult to know what they owed...

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'Sainsbury's Bank to change 'confusing' new credit card statements'

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oldagetraveller

"
I'm confused - how do I find out how much I owe?

In a nutshell, if you're trying to find out how much you owe, look at the closing balance figure on the front page of your new statement"


Not much confusion there? Some people really do need "nannying" of late!

Nasqueron

I got the statement and didn't see any issue with it.

The example in the MSE article is part of the problem - people who do not pay off in full through direct debit but rather wait for the statement and then try and pay

jimjames

I've seen this so had to look at my statement to understand. I'm still no wiser as it seems very clear to me.

On the front page it says Your Closing Balance in bold and Payment due, again in bold. Not sure how much more they can do. I've had issues with other banks in the past making statements unclear but this certainly isn't one.

Ectophile

Am I the only one who did find it confusing?


There's a balance on the front page. On the next page, there's a "Total for (my name)" in bold at the bottom of the list of figures, and it doesn't match the figure on the front page. The only reason for that is that they didn't include the balance carried forward from last month.


Nobody else ever does statements like that. Why did Sainsbury's have to be different?


And there was no apology for last month's late statements either.

Herbalus

I looked at my statement to see if it was confusing. I don't quite understand what all the fuss is about. The first box on the statement, in big letters, says "Important information", which then contains the following:

The 'Total' at the end of the 'Credit Card Transactions' section on the statement represents any movement on your account since your previous statement. It does not reflect the closing balance of the account, which is shown on page 1 in your Account Summary.

It's all quite easy. On the front page I have opening balance £4k (I have 0% interest), repayments £150, new spending £250, closing balance £3.9k.

Then on the transaction page, I have all the movements in the last month, so that's one transaction of £250, and one payment of £150. So it shows total transactions of £100.

Maybe it's easier when there's only 2 transactions and the 'transaction total' of £100 is clearly nowhere near the card balance.

PixelPound

Nasqueron wrote: »

I got the statement and didn't see any issue with it.

The example in the MSE article is part of the problem - people who do not pay off in full through direct debit but rather wait for the statement and then try and pay

It seems to be more those that don't clear the balance each month will have two figures, the total balance and the monthly transaction balance. I gather some customers just used to look at the transaction balance, or maybe they've had queries why the totals are different. It doesn't say whether anyone has been caught out or whether because they've had queries they've decided to clarify.

Maybe someone has had a running balance but because one month they spent less, opted to pay just that as it says total and complained because they still been charged interest on the carried forward balance

R+J

I have just looked at my statement. The closing balance is about the first item seen in bold print at top of first page. Does not seem to be a problem.

chattychappy

Nasqueron wrote: »

I got the statement and didn't see any issue with it.

The example in the MSE article is part of the problem - people who do not pay off in full through direct debit but rather wait for the statement and then try and pay

People are perfectly entitled not to pay in full through DD. What is wrong with "wait[ing] for the statement and then try and pay"?

sausage_time

Ectophile wrote: »

And there was no apology for last month's late statements either.

Logging on today, I see

Some of our July Credit Card Statements were sent out a little late. We’re sorry for the inconvenience. If you haven’t received your July paper statement and therefore not made your July payment on time, any late fees will be corrected. There is no need to contact us.

Hmm. No apology for the fact that I still can't view recent transactions on-line!

scott_lithgows

My card is over 10 year-olds should be paying 2% of statement but new statement is only going to take half of that.
Can't be bothered with the phone call,will BT the balance and close it.