Fees query

Ivesyxyz

Hi, I've been transferring my credit balance on and off for years to zero percent cards. Usually I go for the ones with zero percent on purchases as well. My latest balance transfer was 2 years at zero percent and 18 months on purchases. I assumed as long as I didn't make any purchases after 18 months then I wouldn't incur interest until the total debt until the two years was up. But I've had a message from the bank which I think is saying I'll be charged interest on the purchases I made from next month. I thought as long as the purchases were made within the 18 months I'd be fine. So in effect I'll be paying interest on the purchases from month 19 and then on all of it from month 24? Hope that makes sense! Any help to confirm or not  would be appreciated 👍 

eskbanker

The purchases aspect of the offer mean that there's an 18 month period within which you won't be charged interest on purchases made within it, but once that period has expired then it should be expected that you'd pay interest on that component of your balance if still left outstanding - surely you wouldn't expect that a purchase made in month one still wouldn't be attracting interest in month 24 if the deal is 18 months?

Ivesyxyz

Thats what has now dawned on me. I've always had balance transfer cards that had equal periods of interest free. So yes, it did occur to me that as long as I didn't spend after the 18 months that anything that was spent wouldn't incur interest until month 24.  Lessons learnt. Thanks for responding..I think 🤔 

PRAISETHESUN

I'd avoid mixing BT and purchases on the same card. Often the way payments are allocated to statement balances ends up meaning that you are charged interest on your purchases for not paying off the entire balance (including the BT portion sitting at 0%)