AMEX charged interest during 0% promo period

[crowd79]

Credit card companies are so shady these days. So I'm under the 0% promo period on purchases until next January. Paid last months minimum amount due and they decide to charge $1.04 interest on my $75 annual fee, even though it was billed as a purchase at 17.99%! The rest of purchases are separate at 0%. Very shady. Now im forced to pay off the entire balance, right?...to keep the interest charge from growing?

[livesoft]

LOL! I'll guess that you either did not read the fine print or did not understand the fine print, but certainly did not appreciate the fine print.
Call them up and get your $1.04 back plus the interest they are going to charge you the next billing cycle.

[crowd79]

Fine print, whatever. Why don't they specifically mention it when I applied for the card. Can't wait to rip them a new one when I call. As they say, it's the little things in life that bug ya!

[Sam I Am]

I sometimes have a balance my HomeDepot and/or my Best Buy card(s) on an extended pay w/0% interest.
What I have to do is always pay any other charges I might rack up during the month, as they aren't part of the original deal.

On the few times I have used a balance transfer or a special interest deal, it was always for a one time event/amount. ANY other charges incurred during the subsequent billing cycles was fair game for interest.

In your situation, you are paying interest on an item that wasn't part of a promotion,.

On my HD and BB accounts there is a box that states the amount that must be paid to avoid interest charges.

I am not sure what American Express does, as I have never had a promo with AE.

SamI Am

[Russell]

Now im forced to pay off the entire balance, right?...to keep the interest charge from growing?

You shouldn't have to pay off the entire balance.

I recall having a similar discussion with AMEX after I got my first month's statement. Thanks to new protections passed in 2010, any payments beyond the minimum required are now directed to high interest balances first -- so if you just pay an extra $75 for the annual fee (with maybe a little buffer for the interest), you should be in the clear....

Best,
Russell

[Eldendor]

It's your fault not theirs. The 0% promo doesn't apply to the annual fee. Make an immediate $100 payment to be sure its cleared out move on (you don't need to pay off the whole balance). You don't need to be "ripping them a new one". I had to learn the same lesson. Chalk it up to experience.

[crowd79]

Now im forced to pay off the entire balance, right?...to keep the interest charge from growing?

You shouldn't have to pay off the entire balance.

I recall having a similar discussion with AMEX after I got my first month's statement. Thanks to new protections passed in 2010, any payments beyond the minimum required are now directed to high interest balances first -- so if you just pay an extra $75 for the annual fee (with maybe a little buffer for the interest), you should be in the clear....

Best,
Russell

So I just got billed yesterday ($35 minimum payment) for a due date of March 7th and that is where I noticed the $1.04 charge. If I go online and pay $112 ($35, $75, $1.04+) today, then I should be good?

[Eldendor]

Now im forced to pay off the entire balance, right?...to keep the interest charge from growing?

You shouldn't have to pay off the entire balance.

I recall having a similar discussion with AMEX after I got my first month's statement. Thanks to new protections passed in 2010, any payments beyond the minimum required are now directed to high interest balances first -- so if you just pay an extra $75 for the annual fee (with maybe a little buffer for the interest), you should be in the clear....

Best,
Russell

So I just got billed yesterday ($35 minimum payment) for a due date of March 7th and that is where I noticed the $1.04 charge. If I go online and pay $112 ($35, $75, $1.04+) today, then I should be good?

Yeah if you were just billed, I would pay $120 just to be sure its cleared out and not sweat what the daily charge is and when your payment will actually be applied.

[crowd79]

Thanks! I did not clearly understand the new credit card bill of rights law passed in 2010. That clears that up.

[southerndoc]

The new credit card law requires that banks allocate any payments over the minimum to balances with higher interest rates before being applied to interest-free balances.

In other words, if your minimum is $100, and you owe $75 in fees that is subject to interest, then you should pay the minimum, plus the balance subject to interest, plus the interest charged (and then maybe 10% extra just to ensure the interest is actually paid and they don't charge you further days interest after you were billed).