Tesco Credit Card payment

superM

My last month Tesco Credit card bill was £858.00.  I received a refund of £150.00 relating to previous statement. 

Do I still need to pay the full £858 or will be minus of £150. £708 to pay? 

Just making I don't get charged interest on next statement. 

I know Barclaycard allows refunds and takes that off as payment. I am not sure about Tesco. 

Thanks 

amanda1024

Generally you’d need to pay whatever the bill/statement says (the easiest is by direct debit then you don’t have to do the calculation). With refunds it’ll depend whether it came in before or after the bill/statement whether it’s included this month or next

prettyandfluffy

If you can, check on line for the amount due.  That will be up to date.

CliveOfIndia

You need to pay the amount that's printed on the statement.  I don't know for sure how Tesco handles it, but it's common with many cards that a refund is classed as a "credit" rather than a "payment" - so you still need to make the full payment.

If you do end up with a credit balance on your card, it's no big deal - you can ask them to refund it to your bank account, or else just let it get used up as you spend on the card as usual.

superM

Thank you.  I know Barclaycard accepts refunds as a payment.  

It doesn't make sense if someone purchase and item for £300 and then statement gets produced. They return the item and refund is issues. You still have to pay £300 on a zero balance. 

etienneg

It makes perfect sense to me! To be clear, what CliveOfIndia wrote above sums it up perfectly:
"You need to pay the amount that's printed on the statement."

If the refund occurs before the statement is produced, the balance on the statement takes the refund into account, so there's no problem.

If the refund hasn't been credited when the statement is produced, it's not a "zero balance". The fact that you are anticipating a refund doesn't come into it. How does the credit card provider know a refund will arrive at some point in the future? You have to pay the statement balance.

superM

etienneg said:

It makes perfect sense to me! To be clear, what CliveOfIndia wrote above sums it up perfectly:
"You need to pay the amount that's printed on the statement."

If the refund occurs before the statement is produced, the balance on the statement takes the refund into account, so there's no problem.

If the refund hasn't been credited when the statement is produced, it's not a "zero balance". The fact that you are anticipating a refund doesn't come into it. How does the credit card provider know a refund will arrive at some point in the future? You have to pay the statement balance.

If refund arrives after the statement is produced but before the payment due date then credit card provider does know. At least Barclaycard does it that way. 

FredTrump

superM said:

etienneg said:

It makes perfect sense to me! To be clear, what CliveOfIndia wrote above sums it up perfectly:
"You need to pay the amount that's printed on the statement."

If the refund occurs before the statement is produced, the balance on the statement takes the refund into account, so there's no problem.

If the refund hasn't been credited when the statement is produced, it's not a "zero balance". The fact that you are anticipating a refund doesn't come into it. How does the credit card provider know a refund will arrive at some point in the future? You have to pay the statement balance.

If refund arrives after the statement is produced but before the payment due date then credit card provider does know. At least Barclaycard does it that way. 

I've always taken post statement refunds into account when 'paying my bill in full' and never been charged interest by any card issuer by doing so.  It would make zero sense to actively put your account into credit.

CliveOfIndia

superM said:

If refund arrives after the statement is produced but before the payment due date then credit card provider does know. At least Barclaycard does it that way. 

The key issue is whether the card provider treats it as a "credit" or a "payment".  It sounds pedantic, but some card providers treat refunds differently to others.

FredTrump said:

I've always taken post statement refunds into account when 'paying my bill in full' and never been charged interest by any card issuer by doing so.  It would make zero sense to actively put your account into credit.

As above, it does depend on how the particular card provider treats refunds in their accounting process - as well as the timing of the refund in relation to your billing cycle.  The simplest and safest way is to simply pay the full statement balance as detailed on your statement - this may or may not take account of the refund.

I appreciate it may cause issues if the amounts involved are substantial.  But if the refund amount is relatively small, there's little to be gained by trying to over-complicate things.  For instance, if your regular credit card spend is £1000 per month and you get a refund of £100, then just pay the statement balance.  If that means your account goes into credit for a few days, so be it - the credit amount will just get "used up" over your next few transactions.  At the end of the next month it'll all sort itself out, and you'll be no better or worse off overall.

jbuchanangb

You can get strange things. A few years ago I paid a £500 refundable deposit on a service. It was hire of a product, the deposit against the risk of causing damage to it. The service provider charged it to my credit card. That same day they refunded it because I had satisfied their conditions, not damaged the item, nothing to pay. The £500 refund paid off £500 worth of purchases on my credit card, while the £500 charge was not due for another month.