Interest on purchases on 0% balance transfer card

Mack4140

Hi, I switched my balance to a 0% credit card which had 18 months at 0%, the balance was only £400, all was well, then I bought a TV and my debit card didn't work at the til so I used said credit card to buy the TV and as soon as I got home with online banking paid off the TV from my credit card, now I am been charged interest on my £400 as Halifax say that the money i paid off the TV is allocated to aged debt first so the £400 i have left is from the TV and not my original balance, is this correct?

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

You need to refer to the t&Cs but never mix purchases and balance transfers as a general rule

Yahoo_Mail

Mack4140 said:

Hi, I switched my balance to a 0% credit card which had 18 months at 0%, the balance was only £400, all was well, then I bought a TV and my debit card didn't work at the til so I used said credit card to buy the TV and as soon as I got home with online banking paid off the TV from my credit card, now I am been charged interest on my £400 as Halifax say that the money i paid off the TV is allocated to aged debt first so the £400 i have left is from the TV and not my original balance, is this correct?

You need to clear off the balance, in full, in order to not be charged interest.  As you left a balance on the card (the 0% amount) you didn't clear it in full and were, therefore, charged interest.

Mack4140

Yahoo_Mail said:

Mack4140 said:

Hi, I switched my balance to a 0% credit card which had 18 months at 0%, the balance was only £400, all was well, then I bought a TV and my debit card didn't work at the til so I used said credit card to buy the TV and as soon as I got home with online banking paid off the TV from my credit card, now I am been charged interest on my £400 as Halifax say that the money i paid off the TV is allocated to aged debt first so the £400 i have left is from the TV and not my original balance, is this correct?

You need to clear off the balance, in full, in order to not be charged interest.  As you left a balance on the card (the 0% amount) you didn't clear it in full and were, therefore, charged interest.

Sorry you have lost me, as you say I left the 0% balance so why am I charged interest?
I have checked the ts&c and contradicts its self from what I can tell
We will reduce the amount you owe in the following order:  any overdue amounts from previous statements; then  the remaining balance on your statement; then  any recent transactions not yet shown on your statement. We use your payments to pay off balances charged at the highest interest rate first and so on down to balances with the lowest interest rates. This means the more expensive balances are always paid off first.

Yahoo_Mail

Mack4140 said:

Yahoo_Mail said:

Mack4140 said:

Hi, I switched my balance to a 0% credit card which had 18 months at 0%, the balance was only £400, all was well, then I bought a TV and my debit card didn't work at the til so I used said credit card to buy the TV and as soon as I got home with online banking paid off the TV from my credit card, now I am been charged interest on my £400 as Halifax say that the money i paid off the TV is allocated to aged debt first so the £400 i have left is from the TV and not my original balance, is this correct?

You need to clear off the balance, in full, in order to not be charged interest.  As you left a balance on the card (the 0% amount) you didn't clear it in full and were, therefore, charged interest.

Sorry you have lost me, as you say I left the 0% balance so why am I charged interest?
I have checked the ts&c and contradicts its self from what I can tell
We will reduce the amount you owe in the following order:  any overdue amounts from previous statements; then  the remaining balance on your statement; then  any recent transactions not yet shown on your statement. We use your payments to pay off balances charged at the highest interest rate first and so on down to balances with the lowest interest rates. This means the more expensive balances are always paid off first.

Because you left a balance.  If there is a balance left on the card at all, even one penny, even if that one penny is at 0% you will be charged interest on any spending that month which did attract interest.

When people say "pay the card off in full to avoid paying interest" that's what you need to do, pay it off in full, including the 0% amount. That's why people strongly advise against normal spending when you have a promotional rate balance

eskbanker

Mack4140 said:

We will reduce the amount you owe in the following order:
 any overdue amounts from previous statements; then
 the remaining balance on your statement; then
 any recent transactions not yet shown on your statement.

At the time you paid the £400, the purchase was still in that last category, so the payment was applied to the one higher up the list, i.e. the remaining balance on your statement, even though that was at 0%.  If you'd waited until the purchase was shown on your statement, then your payment would have been applied to that instead.

Asghar

Mack4140 said:

 This means the more expensive balances are always paid off first.

Yes, but only after it's shown on your next statement.

Marcio45

Mack. Common mistake. When you make a payment it goes to the highest interest rate on your last statement. This is important: your last statement. Your last statement was obviously not showing the new purchase, because you had just done it. You had to wait for the next statement showing the TV purchase (which would be charged the higher interest rate) and then make the payment of the cost of the TV.
Because you made the payment before the statement came out you basically paid the interest free promotion.
Luckilly, such small amount wont cost the world in interest, but surelly lesson learned.

PixelPound

As you paid it straight away, you will have paid off the statement balance. Once it is on the next statement, pay it off straight away, it could mean you'll pay some interest, though.

Not sure if the normal "upto 56 days interest free" applies if you are carrying a balance.

[Deleted User]

It only applies if the entire balance is cleared in full.  And if a balance has been revolving, two statements need to be paid in full before interest is again waived.