I made a large payment to pay off my credit card bill on the payment due date 12/1. I opened my account today and saw that I now have an interest charge of $80. I called the bank and they’re saying that the payment was made after their “cut off time,” 7pm central (I’m west coast). This is a card I was planning to cancel today because they’re raising interest rates in January. I’ve had this card for 3 years and have never been late on a payment, always had it set to autopay. On the phone with customer service I said I did not want to pay the interest charge because the account was paid off on its due date, and they said they would escalate to a manager and I would get a call back.
Do I have an argument here or will I end up having to pay the stupid interest charge?
You’ll probably not only have to pay the interest charge, but also a late fee in addition to it. Either you were late or you weren’t. Your card member agreement definitely states what the cutoff time is for payments. If you were later than that, you were late. If you ask nicely you may be able to get the late fee waived as a one-time courtesy, but the interest is probably going to have to be a lesson learned.
This is a card I was planning to cancel today because they’re raising interest rates in January.
As an aside, if you’re worried about interest rates it means you aren’t using your card responsibly and paying your statement balances in full monthly. I’d suggest you adopt that philosophy immediately, as throwing away money to interest is never a smart financial move. You want to be in a position where you don’t care one bit about the interest rates on your cards, because they are all rendered irrelevant when you pay your statement balances in full monthly.
@Birch
I agree. I don’t even know what the interest rate is on a single one of my cards. My interest rate is 0% because I pay them off every month. The first I do when I get a new card is to set up automatic payments.
@Birch
Yeah, I’m aware. I’m pregnant and out of work currently, so I’m being proactive cancelling this card so there’s no temptation to use it when it’s possible I won’t be able to pay it off in full. Thanks for the reply and feedback.
Why is US Bank raising your interest rate? I have a US Bank card that stayed the same interest rate since the day I got it, and I’ve carried a balance on it once or twice.
@Birch
As an aside, assuming that because somebody is paying interest to a credit card that it means they’re using the card irresponsibly is pretty ridiculous.
Are they using the credit card ideally? No, but they’re using the credit card as designed.
@Griff
I don’t agree with that. By ‘responsibly’ what is meant is financially responsibly. It is not financially responsible to throw away money to high interest revolving debt. When one does so, they do it for one of two reasons. One, they can’t afford to pay their statement balances in full… so they’re spending irresponsibly. Two, they are simply credit-ignorant (I was this way for years) and think there’s no issue with carrying a balance. That’s financially irresponsible because you’re paying more for everything due to paying interest unnecessarily.
@Birch
Saying someone who doesn’t pay their statement balance in full is spending irresponsibly is unrealistic and condescending. Sometimes people have emergency issues and using a credit card is the only resort.
Sometimes people have emergency issues and using a credit card is the only resort.
Sure, things happen, but that doesn’t make the use of the card less irresponsible. It just means there’s a reason to use it irresponsibly.
If I drive 70mph in a 30mph zone “just because” I’m driving irresponsibly. If I drive 70mph in a 30mph zone because I’m trying to get someone to a hospital that’s in serious need of immediate care my reason is an “emergency” just like you say. That doesn’t mean my driving isn’t still irresponsible.
@Birch
Apples and oranges. Driving 70 mph can cause harm to other people. Not paying a statement balance only causes harm to yourself. Regardless, you are being judgy. If someone has a debt they must pay and the only way that can do it is to incur some interest, even at a high APR, then that’s not necessarily irresponsible - it’s just life. Indeed, it may be more irresponsible not to make the payment because that could cause more harm to their financial situation/credit.
@Kirin
Then would you say that it’s irresponsible that said individual didn’t have an emergency fund set up that would have prevented a credit card from being their go-to in this situation? Or, is that being ‘judgy’ as well?
Griff said:
I have always found that you can get one to two interest charges waived per year with credit cards. The only exception was American Express.
Definitely going to try to negotiate! I didn’t get charged a late fee because my automatic payment already went through earlier in the day, so really it’s just the interest charge that I’m asking for help with.