Paying full statement balance after refunds have been issued

nileniale

Hello MSE,

Apologies in advance for CC newbie question (possibly so newbie that I can't seem to find an answer after searching the forum).

I am wondering how to avoid being charged interest in the following scenario:

I have an Amex Everyday Cashback card. My statement covering 11 Jan-10 Feb due to be paid in the next few days had a closing balance of £827.59. However, since then I have received a total of £369.32 in refund for purchases/charges from during that statement period. Do I still need to pay the full closing balance of that statement to avoid incurring interest, or would it be considered paying the statement "in full" if I pay the statement balance less the refund amount I have received since the statement closed? I want to avoid incurring interest but I also do not want to pay off purchases I have made this month (a total of £410.14) needlessly early.

Hopefully this makes sense. Thanks in advance.

CliveOfIndia

Usually, refunds are classed as an "Account Credit" rather than a payment, especially if the refund was received after the statement was generated.  So you do need to pay the full statement balance to avoid paying interest.

This will then leave your account with a credit balance (which is not an issue, since it's due to a refund rather than deliberately front-loading the card, so you won't fall foul of the T&Cs).  You can either just carry on using the card and the credit balance will be "used up" as it were.  Or you can phone them up and ask them to refund the credit balance to your bank account.

grumbler

CliveOfIndia said:

Usually, refunds are classed as an "Account Credit" rather than a payment, especially if the refund was received after the statement was generated.

I think this is an overestimation unless you mean specifically Amex (that I don't know about).

IMO, the safest way is to have a DD set for the full payment and leave it to the CC provider to decide how much money to take. Many say it very clearly in the online account (e.g. Barclays - they adjust the DD amount after each payment they receive unless it's the very last days before the DD). Some, e.g. Aqua, send text messages.

msallen

I believe you only have to pay the reduced amount, but I would have thought it quicker to get an authoratative answer by ringing Amex (who have excellent customer service) than sign up for an account here and then compose and post a question (20 minutes later) in order to get a variety of conflicting answers.

Grumbler's suggestion is by far the best though. Get a DD set up for future months.

km1500

Normally credits after the statement do not count as 'payment' - you need to pay the statement balance by the time stated.

Vortigern

Check "Balance Due" in the Amex app.
Does it differ from your statement balance?