Credit Card Interest Charges

Angrypete

Hi to everyone

I have been pairing down a balance that I had on an Alliance and Leicester Credit card and eventually I paid off the FULL BALANCE before the payment due date The next month the statement arrived and I had been charged interest. I called customer service and was told that I need to pay off the balance on 2 consecutive months to clear the balance. So when they say if you pay off the balance in full , you will not be charged interest. Its not true.

Any thoughts on this?

Angrypete

YorkshireBoy

Angrypete wrote: »

So when they say if you pay off the balance in full , you will not be charged interest. Its not true.

Except they don't! They say...

...if you pay your statement balance on time and in full every month...

https://wwwa.applyonlinenow.com/UKCCapp/Ctl/link?eid=EF3C6FB7

Any thoughts on this?

Read the T&C's. It's perfectly clear what will happen if you don't pay as detailed above. Whether you think it's 'fair' is another matter.

methusala_2

The interest you were charged on the second month was ...trailing interest...ie interst you accrued on the previous months balance before your payment reached them. This is calulated daily but only applied to your statement on your statement date. This is why you need to clear 2 consecutive months before you will then not be charged interest when paying in full before the statement date.

DestroyingAngel_2

Interest is calculated in arrears, eg when you pay off April's statement, you're actually paying off March's interest. Therefore, when you get your final statement in May, it would show April's interest, from the time your last payment cleared up, to the time the statement was printed. Therefore the "2 consecutive months" rule.

Obviously, if you'd always paid off your balance in full each and every month, you'd never ever see interest. It's when you stop paying in full and only pay the minimum or a certain amount each month, that things start to unravel.