NatWest 0% Balance Transfers

debtmonster

Just got my latest NatWest credit card statement.

Had the account open since August, and at the end of November I transferred £1800 from my Barclaycard to it, charged fee of 2%.

Checked my account on-line today and I've been charged interest, only 6p, but interest none the less.

Phoned them up, and the interest is charged on the balance transfer fee !!!

Never come across this before on any other card I have. Apparently once you have had the account open for 3 months or more, they charge interest on balance transfer fees, although the 0% BT rate applies to my account for 13 months.

Also the interest is charged from the day the fee is applied to the account so it can't be avoided. They tell me that when I make a payment, it will be applied to the fee first so the interest will stop after that, but this has annoyed me - I know it's not a lot of money but I feel like I've been tricked.

Thoughts ?

YorkshireBoy

debtmonster wrote: »

Never come across this before on any other card I have. Apparently once you have had the account open for 3 months or more, they charge interest on balance transfer fees, although the 0% BT rate applies to my account for 13 months.

The fee is treated as a purchase, ie you've 'bought' the balance transfer. Since your card offered 0% on purchases for 3 months the interest has only just started to appear on your statement.

They tell me that when I make a payment, it will be applied to the fee first so the interest will stop after that...

Either "they" don't know how the fee and it's interest are calculated/applied, or they were just giving you the fob-off, because they are wrong...according to the posts of others on this board. Remember, the 'fee' is not a fee...it's a purchase item.

Thoughts ?

Search the forum for other threads on this subject (including RBS and Mint).

debtmonster

OK thanks for that, will have a look.