Tesco zero percent interest / one per cent balance transfer offer - misleading?

Nyala

I signed up for this deal a few months ago. My understanding was that I would pay a one percent fee each time I made a balance transfer of one percent of the amount of the transfer but I would pay no interest,

So if over three months I transferred £1000, then £2000 then £3000 I expected I would  pay £10 plus £20 plus £30 i.el a total of £60 and then if I made no more transfers there would be no more fees during the 0% period.

I have discovered today that Tesco are in fact effectively charging a monthly interest charge based on the balance. They are charging 1% each month on the total balance So in the above example the charges would be £10 then £30 then £60 and it would be another £60 each subsequent month assuming the balance remains the same.

I believe that I have been misled by Tesco (who now appear to have been taken over by Barclays).

I cannot find a copy of the original details of this offer but I believe it was on this site and that I was misled by it.

Is there any record anywhere of previous balance transfer offers.

DullGreyGuy

Nyala said:

I signed up for this deal a few months ago. My understanding was that I would pay a one percent fee each time I made a balance transfer of one percent of the amount of the transfer but I would pay no interest,

So if over three months I transferred £1000, then £2000 then £3000 I expected I would  pay £10 plus £20 plus £30 i.el a total of £60 and then if I made no more transfers there would be no more fees during the 0% period.

I have discovered today that Tesco are in fact effectively charging a monthly interest charge based on the balance. They are charging 1% each month on the total balance So in the above example the charges would be £10 then £30 then £60 and it would be another £60 each subsequent month assuming the balance remains the same.

I believe that I have been misled by Tesco (who now appear to have been taken over by Barclays).

I cannot find a copy of the original details of this offer but I believe it was on this site and that I was misled by it.

Is there any record anywhere of previous balance transfer offers.

Without you having a link or such to the offer its going to be pure speculation as to if you misread the offer, applied after the offer had expired, didnt click the right link to get the offer etc etc 

0% APR and 1% Fees would be an unusual offer these days. 

There also the fact that just because you applied for X doesnt necessarily mean they offered you X but may have decided you didnt qualify for it but they offered you Y instead which you did qualify for. You need to look at the agreement you agreed to and see what it says about balance transfers and APRs

eskbanker

Nyala said:

I signed up for this deal a few months ago. My understanding was that I would pay a one percent fee each time I made a balance transfer of one percent of the amount of the transfer but I would pay no interest,

So if over three months I transferred £1000, then £2000 then £3000 I expected I would  pay £10 plus £20 plus £30 i.el a total of £60 and then if I made no more transfers there would be no more fees during the 0% period.

I have discovered today that Tesco are in fact effectively charging a monthly interest charge based on the balance. They are charging 1% each month on the total balance So in the above example the charges would be £10 then £30 then £60 and it would be another £60 each subsequent month assuming the balance remains the same.

I believe that I have been misled by Tesco (who now appear to have been taken over by Barclays).

I cannot find a copy of the original details of this offer but I believe it was on this site and that I was misled by it.

Is there any record anywhere of previous balance transfer offers.

Every credit card has a mandatory minimum monthly repayment, which is typically 1% of the balance - for those with 0% interest it's simply a capital repayment but isn't a 'fee' or a 'charge' and is nothing to do with interest as such.  If your balance was £6,000 then you'd repay £60 a month later and your new balance will be £5,940, then the next month the same again to leave £5,880 and so on....

Exodi

Even though you highlight the coincidence of 1% balance transfer fee and paying 1% per month, interest rates on accounts are virtually never quoted monthly, so the actual interest rate would be ~12% (unlikely). It wouldn't be that you misinterpreted the deal.

I suspect eskbanker is right on the money. Even in a promotional period, credit cards still function the same where you are expected to make at least minimum payments. A card being 0% doesn't mean you don't have to pay anything, it just means they aren't adding on interest to the balance every month.

eskbanker said
Every credit card has a mandatory minimum monthly repayment, which is typically 1% of the balance - for those with 0% interest it's simply a capital repayment but isn't a 'fee' or a 'charge' and is nothing to do with interest as such.  If your balance was £6,000 then you'd repay £60 a month later and your new balance will be £5,940, then the next month the same again to leave £5,880 and so on....

Nyala

Thank you very much for the responses. I have checked my statements and it does indeed appear that the monthly payments I am making are being deducted from the balance and no interest is accruing at this time during the offer period.

This was clearly aberration on my part. They are minimum repayments not interest charges. 

I am extremely grateful for the responses as I was under the  impression that I had been somehow tricked. Partly because earlier on I couldn't access previous statements so it was difficult to work out what was happening. 

You have put my mind at rest. Thank you very much.