Amex Interest Charges

arts99

I have been charged a staggering over £200 interest by Amex for paying around just £2000 less then the full balance; that was also due to the fact that I did not see any indication on Amex mobile app/website that there was still money to be paid as I had paid around  £10000 about 2 weeks before the due date.

When I contacted them I was initially told that they will check and later I was told that the interest has to be paid on the whole amount even if its £1 less than the total balance that had to be paid. They offered to refund 50 percent but I declined that as £100 is still quite a large amount.

I have read on other posts in this forum that this is how they interest charges are for credit card companies in the UK, but this seems very unfair. Apart from this even their own website states clearly the following:

https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-know-how/credit-card-interest/
if you pay anything less than the full balance, such as the minimum payment, you’ll incur interest on outstanding balances

If you opt to pay off your balance over several months, interest will be charged on the amount outstanding

Has anyone got any relief from Financial Ombudsman or small claims court on such an unfair situation, please?

[Deleted User]

It's absolutely standard and nothing FOS will get involved in.

You simply get charged interest for borrowing money for the length of time you borrow it for. It's how borrowing money works.

To have interest waived, clear the FULL statement  balance each month.

Their 50% offer is hugely generous. Grab it if they will still let you have it.

JamesPeter

arts99 said:

I have been charged a staggering over £200 interest by Amex for paying around just £2000 less then the full balance; that was also due to the fact that I did not see any indication on Amex mobile app/website that there was still money to be paid as I had paid around  £10000 about 2 weeks before the due date.

When I contacted them I was initially told that they will check and later I was told that the interest has to be paid on the whole amount even if its £1 less than the total balance that had to be paid. They offered to refund 50 percent but I declined that as £100 is still quite a large amount.

I have read on other posts in this forum that this is how they interest charges are for credit card companies in the UK, but this seems very unfair. Apart from this even their own website states clearly the following:

https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-know-how/credit-card-interest/
if you pay anything less than the full balance, such as the minimum payment, you’ll incur interest on outstanding balances

If you opt to pay off your balance over several months, interest will be charged on the amount outstanding

Has anyone got any relief from Financial Ombudsman or small claims court on such an unfair situation, please?

You signed up to their t&c’s when you took out the card (ie opened the account).

Unless the full amount from the previous statement is paid, you will pay interest on the whole statemented amount as set out in the t&c’s (and on the statement).

You will not get anywhere with the Ombudsman/court as Amex have only done as stated in their t&c’s and yes, it is standard for UK issued credit cards.

Write it off to experience and always pay off the full statemented amount every month to avoid any interest charges.

If you wanted to spend and then only pay off a smaller amount than the total balance (without paying interest), you applied for the wrong card. You should have applied for a 0% spending card – like the cards listed here:

 https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-0-credit-cards/

These cards permit you to pay less than the total balance, and provided you pay the minimum every month, no interest is charged during the 0% offer period.