Barclaycard direct debit payment - statement balance

LordSomebody

Hi all

Hoping you can tell me I’m being dim...

I changed my BC direct debit to ‘statement balance’ in March. My April statement was in the amount of £280ish. The direct debit which went out at the end of April was requested in the amount of £230ish. I was surprised but thought nothing of it, and manually paid an additional £50 so the amount paid was the same as the statement.

My May statement came through at £654. The direct debit, due to go out on Monday, has been requested by BC in the amount of £504. I’ve checked the dd details, and it’s definitely set to “statement balance”.

Am I missing something or is there an error here? I’m happy to ring and ask but I’m wondering if it’s an easy explanation?

Thanks.

[Deleted User]

I can't think of any reason why it would call for a lesser amount. 

You're definitely looking at the statement balance, not your current balance?

LordSomebody

Yep, definitely the statement balance. I’m on hold now...

SuperAllyB

Have you had any refunds earlier in the month leading to Barclaycard adjusting the DD?

LordSomebody

I have actually. I didn’t realise that would reduce the DD? Makes sense.

penners324

Refunds or items on hold will reduce the DD taken.

LordSomebody

Thanks. Thanks also for not telling me I’m being really dim when the answer was actually completely obvious!

Fingerbobs

You're not dim - I would have  been similarly confused, as I've been a credit card user all my adult life, and I've always believed that refunds don't count as payments towards statemented balances, so this is news to me too!

SuperAllyB

Some cards can be a wee bit ambiguous but I'm pretty sure most of them don't count refunds towards the required minimum payment.

Other cards, of course, don't alter the DD for any extra payments but Barclaycard do.

Emmia

Refunds essentially count as payments towards the balance with Barclaycard - if you use the Barclays banking app with a Barclaycard, then you can click through in the payments bit to see what DD will actually be taken. (You can probably do it with the Barclaycard app as well, but I've never used it.)

However if the refund/payment happens too close to the payment date it won't be knocked off that month's bill - so depending on your normal use of the card you could either end up in credit or find the following month's bill is effectively reduced.

badger09

You can indeed see in the Barclaycard app what DD will be taken & the impact (if any) of any additional payment you make. I think DD must be initiated about 5 days before payment is due. At least that's when DD isn't impacted by an additional payment.