First Direct Credit Card Warning

JamesF12345

Please be warned FirstDirect have moved their statement and payment dates without warning. I am not sure if everyone is affected or just a few people. My statement date should be on the 6th November but this has been moved to the 15th November with no notice. This could mean that your statement will have another 9 days worth of payments on it so your December credit card may be significantly higher than normal, messing up Christmas budgets or pushing you over to not paying in full.
They have also kept the payment date the same and so the amount of credit they offer has been reduced. I have a message in with the complaints department but no update so far.

maisie_cat

I noticed my statement date was late in October compared to same month last year, 15th instead of 12th but the payment date has also moved by 3 days. It is annoying, I've had the same card for 30 years and tend to time large spends to get the longest interest free period.

JamesF12345

I don't mind a couple of days weekends etc have to be included in the calculations but 9 days no excuse. Other than to possibly make people not be able to pay their card in full and earn some interest.

blue.peter

If the change is a problem for you, might it be worth asking FD to change it again? IME, credit card issuers are pretty good about changing statement dates on request. It might even be worth making a complaint if it's a serious enough problem.

(Mind you, it is pretty bizarre that they should suddenly move them for no apparent reason - and doing it without warning is especially so.)

Nasqueron

JamesF12345 said:

I don't mind a couple of days weekends etc have to be included in the calculations but 9 days no excuse. Other than to possibly make people not be able to pay their card in full and earn some interest.

It would seem an odd way to make money to issue a statement saying pay X by Y then change the date of issue so it still says pay X by Y - if anything, for someone whose statement was moved back 9 days, they had 9 extra days without having to pay the card, depending on when the due date is

JamesF12345

No I think you miss the point. The original card statement was the 6th November it is now the 15th but the card still needs paying on the same date

eskbanker

JamesF12345 said:

Please be warned FirstDirect have moved their statement and payment dates without warning.

Have they put this in writing?

lr1277

In the last year my FD credit card's statement date has drifted from the 8th of the month to the 14th or 15th. The payment date has been put back by about 2-3 days depending on the month.

I asked for a fixed payment date a year ago and all I was promised was a range of dates within say a 4 day range. I was ok with that.

With the old John Lewis card (JV with HSBC) had a fixed statement date and the payment date changed due to either the length of that current month or any bank holidays. Why FD can't replicate that I have no idea.

Tony5896

I’m not sure they would make a great deal of interest my statement date is 26th-28th depending .. this month it was 30th .. I paid the bill anyway so instead of due amount xxx it was 0 ..

Rich1976

This has affected me also. My statement is normally produced around the 5th to the 8th of each month. I have to message them each year to get a list of dates so that I know when each month’s statement will be produced.

this month should have been the 5th November but wasn’t . I messaged them yesterday and they responded to say as a result of recent changes my statement will now be produced on the 8th of each month.

i said what changes? I hadn’t been notified of anything. They said they under no obligation to send out letters as the due date remains the same.
i told her that it it’s important because people may plan their spending accordingly and may now find an extra 3 days spending included in the ‘wrong statement’. 

Not the end of the world but disappointed that FD or rather HSBC that manages the credit card couldn’t have the courtesy to notify customers in advance. 

Unfortunately their credit card is very neglected with no notifications, no benefits, no visibility of pending transactions, overseas charges for spending where as the debit card is free. I just use it for convenience mostly.