WF BILT Huge Interest Charge

[BronzeTrader]

WF BILT is one of the best cards out there.  So I can't complain about the card.  But this is a nasty surprise.

To meet the 5 spend requirement, I made some small charges and the total balance is about $4.00.  Statement closed on the 28th and due on the 21st.  Then I made the rent payment about $2,000 on the 1st.  

I made a $1,500 payment before 21st and that more than cover the $4 statement balance.  I always want to pay most of the balance before month end, so I can make new rent payment.  But WF returned the payment since the payment account owner does not match the BILT card holder.  WF is about the only bank that matches the two accounts.  So it will deny payment from P2 account to pay P1 BILT card.

But that returned payment only posted several days after the payment date.  So I made another $1,500 payment from inside WF and that went through.  

So this resulted to a late payment.  And WF charged me $36 interest charge.  When I looked at my statement, it shows a 28% APR.  WF rep said that rate if perfectly legal and it is part of the T&C that all cardholders accepted when they applied for the card.

Sure I phoned WF rep to complain.  It is sad to see a $36 interest charge for a $4 statement balance and that WF rejected the original payment.

Anyhow, WF removed that nasty interest charge.  But that 28% APR stays.  

WF still gets a lot of work to improve itself.

[simplynoir]

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@BronzeTrader wrote:

I made a $1,500 payment before 21st and that more than cover the $4 statement balance.  I always want to pay most of the balance before month end, so I can make new rent payment.  But WF returned the payment since the payment account owner does not match the BILT card holder.  WF is about the only bank that matches the two accounts.  So it will deny payment from P2 account to pay P1 BILT card.

....

WF still gets a lot of work to improve itself.

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I fail to see why WF needs to work to improve themselves in this situation. You attempted to make a payment from a checking/savings account that was not under your name. As a result when they tried to process the payment they discovered the bank account was not under your name and declined it. They have a right to cover themselves from potential fraud and deny the payment method as a result. This is something that pretty much all banks ask to confirm when you add bank accounts for making payments, certifying that the account is under your name or you're authorized to. Now while banks mostly don't really check like WF it doesn't make them the bad guys in this case. It was just bad timing on you part but in no way their fault

[longtimelurker]

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@simplynoir wrote:

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@BronzeTrader wrote:

I made a $1,500 payment before 21st and that more than cover the $4 statement balance.  I always want to pay most of the balance before month end, so I can make new rent payment.  But WF returned the payment since the payment account owner does not match the BILT card holder.  WF is about the only bank that matches the two accounts.  So it will deny payment from P2 account to pay P1 BILT card.

....

WF still gets a lot of work to improve itself.

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I fail to see why WF needs to work to improve themselves in this situation. You attempted to make a payment from a checking/savings account that was not under your name. As a result when they tried to process the payment they discovered the bank account was not under your name and declined it. They have a right to cover themselves from potential fraud and deny the payment method as a result. This is something that pretty much all banks ask to confirm when you add bank accounts for making payments, certifying that the account is under your name or you're authorized to. Now while banks mostly don't really check like WF it doesn't make them the bad guys in this case. It was just bad timing on you part but in no way their fault

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Was the $36 interest or late fee?   If interest I guess the $36 charge wasn't on the $4 balance (takes MUCH MUCH more than a 28% APR to do that in a month). My guess is that since the balance wasn't PIF (because of the returned payment) you also paid interest on the $2000 rent charge.   

[simplynoir]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@simplynoir wrote:

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@BronzeTrader wrote:

I made a $1,500 payment before 21st and that more than cover the $4 statement balance.  I always want to pay most of the balance before month end, so I can make new rent payment.  But WF returned the payment since the payment account owner does not match the BILT card holder.  WF is about the only bank that matches the two accounts.  So it will deny payment from P2 account to pay P1 BILT card.

....

WF still gets a lot of work to improve itself.

---

I fail to see why WF needs to work to improve themselves in this situation. You attempted to make a payment from a checking/savings account that was not under your name. As a result when they tried to process the payment they discovered the bank account was not under your name and declined it. They have a right to cover themselves from potential fraud and deny the payment method as a result. This is something that pretty much all banks ask to confirm when you add bank accounts for making payments, certifying that the account is under your name or you're authorized to. Now while banks mostly don't really check like WF it doesn't make them the bad guys in this case. It was just bad timing on you part but in no way their fault

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Was the $36 interest or late fee?   If interest I guess the $36 charge wasn't on the $4 balance (takes MUCH MUCH more than a 28% APR to do that in a month). My guess is that since the balance wasn't PIF (because of the returned payment) you also paid interest on the $2000 rent charge.   

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OP mentions the $36 is the interest fee that they were able to get credited back due to late payment, penalty APR is stuck though

[BronzeTrader]

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@simplynoir wrote:

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@BronzeTrader wrote:

I made a $1,500 payment before 21st and that more than cover the $4 statement balance.  I always want to pay most of the balance before month end, so I can make new rent payment.  But WF returned the payment since the payment account owner does not match the BILT card holder.  WF is about the only bank that matches the two accounts.  So it will deny payment from P2 account to pay P1 BILT card.

....

WF still gets a lot of work to improve itself.

---

I fail to see why WF needs to work to improve themselves in this situation. You attempted to make a payment from a checking/savings account that was not under your name. As a result when they tried to process the payment they discovered the bank account was not under your name and declined it. They have a right to cover themselves from potential fraud and deny the payment method as a result. This is something that pretty much all banks ask to confirm when you add bank accounts for making payments, certifying that the account is under your name or you're authorized to. Now while banks mostly don't really check like WF it doesn't make them the bad guys in this case. It was just bad timing on you part but in no way their fault

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This is clearly not true.  I've made many many credit card payment from any banks, and I only recall WF declined payments.  So WF is an odd thing to do such.  If I paid from inside WF or inside BILT, then I get no problem.  Fraud?  Where does that come from?

Anyhow.  The $36 is interest charge.  I guess that is on the $2,000 new balance.  WF does not even want to both with late charge since it is a $4 statement balance.  

My point is that, we should be aware that some CC banks charge very high interest rate.  This is the reason that US Congress tries to get to those CC banks for charging extremely high interest rate.  Then banks have to justify the 28% interest rate.

If the CC customer rep did not remove the charge, I can certainly visit local branch to get the banker remove that.  

[Turbobuick]

Whether the interest rate is 5% or 35%, you can decline the cc offer. All the terms are in that 10 page fine print contract they send or email. 

[GatoradeZeroGuy]

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@BronzeTrader wrote:

But WF returned the payment since the payment account owner does not match the BILT card holder. 

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I guess this goes without saying, but a potential P1+P2 joint account in the future might be worth considering to avoid this in the future 

[FinStar]

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@Turbobuick wrote:

Whether the interest rate is 5% or 35%, you can decline the cc offer. All the terms are in that 10 page fine print contract they send or email. 

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Right.

Clearly, the T&Cs are clearly spelled out before clicking the submit button and checking the box that one accepts such T&Cs. So, a returned payment is not Wells Fargo's fault if something doesn't match in their systems.

Plus, the last time I checked WF (and other FIs) are not charities. So, while they've had their share of really bad publicity, the system performed the F/C and L/F actions on the account accordingly 🤷‍♂️ This would have been no different outcome-wise if it had been Capital One, Citi, Chase, BoA, etc., and BILT was a partner of any of those FIs instead of WF.

[simplynoir]

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@BronzeTrader wrote:

My point is that, we should be aware that some CC banks charge very high interest rate.  This is the reason that US Congress tries to get to those CC banks for charging extremely high interest rate.  Then banks have to justify the 28% interest rate.  

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They did justify it in your case though because of the late payment which triggered the maximum APR they can charge you. Or heck maybe that is what you were approved with I have no idea what your approval terms were. But the APRs listed on the Bilt card page does mention a max APR of 28.49% is possible if approved depending on credit worthiness. So I'm failing to see what you are talking about here

[Remedios]

Someone educate me, but I thought payment account used must be cardholder's or joint account?