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Capital One charging interest on PIF balances!

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barbaralee
Established Contributor

Re: Capital One charging interest on PIF balances!


@DeeBee78 wrote:

@NRB525 wrote:

@DeeBee78 wrote:

I pay my balance in full every month (sometimes several times a month), before the due date. I just looked through three months of my QuicksilverOne statements, and discovered that I paid over $50 in interest for balances paid in full! 

 

Here are my payments for the last three months:

October 6th Statement

Previous Balance : $1,931.28 September 5

Payments: $2,618.11

Fees & Interest Charged: $23.58 during September

Transactions: $1,201.54

New Balance: $538.29

 

 


No, it is unlikely cash advances are involved.

 

OP needs to provide this information, previous balance, payments, fee/interest, transactions, and new balance for the September 5 statement. And for the August 5 statement. If interest continues to show on those earlier statements, then keep going back to July 5, June 5, etc, until we find the point where the interest was first charged.

 

There is likely a statement in there, and you have to keep going back in time until you find it, where the Previous Balance, is more than Payments and New Transactions.


Yes, my September statement had a $500  balance carried over from August, so I was hit with an interest charge. However, for the last three months, I have paid more than my entire balance each month, and I shouldn't have had to pay a penny in interest. 

 

After doing more research, it appears that Capital One is calculating interest on an average daily balance, including new transactions. So if you ever carry a balance, you basically have to stop using the card for an entire billing cycle to stop the interest from accruing. It doesn't matter how much you pay, it's going to continue to accrue. 

 

https://www.capitalone.com/media/doc/credit-cards/Credit-Card-Agreement-for-Consumer-Cards-in-Capita...

 

This is the first I'm discovering this, as I usually do not carry a balance on interest-bearing cards. I'm more than a little annoyed at their shady accounting practices, but it's still my fault. 


I am sorry, OP, but in this case it IS your fault. This is a common practice among all the credit card companies that I have had. If anything, you should be grateful to Cap1. They very kindly waived fees that you accrued which were in their T&C. 

 

I also think making multiple payments in a cycle can get confusing. If you already PIF to begin with why not just set up automatic payment for balance in full on the due date? That is what I have done for years, and have yet to be charged interest. 

Message 11 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Capital One charging interest on PIF balances!

I have had this happen before to two of my accounts. I PIF and the was surprised to see a balance on the acct the following week; interest charges. I called and they credited the accounts. They were nice about it, but I was sure to point out the error. 

Message 12 of 16
NRB525
Super Contributor

Re: Capital One charging interest on PIF balances!


@longtimelurker wrote:

@DeeBee78 wrote:

@NRB525 wrote:

@DeeBee78 wrote:

I pay my balance in full every month (sometimes several times a month), before the due date. I just looked through three months of my QuicksilverOne statements, and discovered that I paid over $50 in interest for balances paid in full! 

 

Here are my payments for the last three months:

October 6th Statement

Previous Balance : $1,931.28 September 5

Payments: $2,618.11

Fees & Interest Charged: $23.58 during September

Transactions: $1,201.54

New Balance: $538.29

 

 


No, it is unlikely cash advances are involved.

 

OP needs to provide this information, previous balance, payments, fee/interest, transactions, and new balance for the September 5 statement. And for the August 5 statement. If interest continues to show on those earlier statements, then keep going back to July 5, June 5, etc, until we find the point where the interest was first charged.

 

There is likely a statement in there, and you have to keep going back in time until you find it, where the Previous Balance, is more than Payments and New Transactions.


Yes, my September statement had a $500  balance carried over from August, so I was hit with an interest charge. However, for the last three months, I have paid more than my entire balance each month, and I shouldn't have had to pay a penny in interest. 

 

After doing more research, it appears that Capital One is calculating interest on an average daily balance, including new transactions. So if you ever carry a balance, you basically have to stop using the card for an entire billing cycle to stop the interest from accruing. It doesn't matter how much you pay, it's going to continue to accrue. 

 

https://www.capitalone.com/media/doc/credit-cards/Credit-Card-Agreement-for-Consumer-Cards-in-Capita...

 

This is the first I'm discovering this, as I usually do not carry a balance on interest-bearing cards. I'm more than a little annoyed at their shady accounting practices, but it's still my fault. 


This is nearly universal among issuers.   Once you carry a balance, you lose the grace period. 


This is true, once you carry over the amount, the interest rate clock picks up all new transactions. With most banks, and I think with Cap One, you can hit the reset by getting the account to zero mid cycle for a few days. It means you stop adding new charges and make sure your payments are cleared on the CC account. I've done this numerous times when re-upping BT offers: clear off the amount to another card, make sure it's zero, and then bring a new BT back onto the card two weeks later.

 

The exception is US Bank. I've had BT on a couple of them, tried adding some charges to get the rewards, then paid more than those charges plus minimum payment to offset the new charges. It reduced the interest-subject balance, but then US Bank has a minimum $2 interest, and that $2 interest shows the next month, triggering a new $2 minimum interest charge. Annoying. I got it removed, but learned to not try that again on US Bank with BT.

BofA, on the other hand, I can carry BT offers, add new charges, pay them plus minimum payment and never see new interest cost. It works quite well with the BankAmericard Offers.

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Message 13 of 16
CreditDunce
Valued Contributor

Re: Capital One charging interest on PIF balances!

I learned something today.   I thought if you paid in full for two months in a row, you gained the grace period back.  It is good to know I will need to zero out the balance in the unlikely event I ever carry a balance. 

Message 14 of 16
longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: Capital One charging interest on PIF balances!


@CreditDunce wrote:

I learned something today.   I thought if you paid in full for two months in a row, you gained the grace period back.  It is good to know I will need to zero out the balance in the unlikely event I ever carry a balance. 


Thats if you make no new purchases after carrying the balance.   

Message 15 of 16
Imperfectfuture
Super Contributor

Re: Capital One charging interest on PIF balances!


@DeeBee78 wrote:

I pay my balance in full every month (sometimes several times a month), before the due date. I just looked through three months of my QuicksilverOne statements, and discovered that I paid over $50 in interest for balances paid in full! 

 

Here are my payments for the last three months:

October 6th Statement

Previous Balance : $1,931.28

Payments: $2,618.11

Fees & Interest Charged: $23.58

Transactions: $1,201.54

New Balance: $538.29

 

November 6th Statement

Previous Balance: $538.29

Payments: $547.99

Fees and Interest Charged: $1.17

Transactions: $1,050.84

New Balance: $1,042.31

 

 

December 6th Statement

Previous Balance: $1,042.31

Payments: $1,042.31

Fees and Interest Charged: $25.37

Transactions: $1,399.02

New Balance: $1,424.39

 

 

I immediately called Capital One and asked why I was being charged interest for payments made in full, and before the due date. I could not get an explaination from the foreign CSR, but got all the interest charges credited to my account. 

 

It's definitely my fault for not paying attention to my statement details, but wow! I wonder how many other customers they're doing this to! 


Not me, because I am not letting them report, for Fico growth reasons.

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Message 16 of 16
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