I goofed on my CC payment but is this right?!

[riverwed070707]

I pay my cc in full each month. This month I managed to accidentally duplicate last months payment ($1050) instead of this months statement balance ($1193). Then I got hit with a $21 finance charge...

Guess I'm not clear how payment is applied. I have accrued new charges over the month that will be reflected on the next statement but shouldn't the interest only be for the $140 difference, not the total balance of the card which is currently about $2060? Or did they essentially apply my payment only to new charges and charge me interest on the old? In 3 years I've been carrying a rewards card I've never done this. I know its only $20 but still!

[disneysteve]

I pay my cc in full each month. This month I managed to accidentally duplicate last months payment ($1050) instead of this months statement balance ($1193). Then I got hit with a $21 finance charge...

Guess I'm not clear how payment is applied. I have accrued new charges over the month that will be reflected on the next statement but shouldn't the interest only be for the $140 difference, not the total balance of the card which is currently about $2060? Or did they essentially apply my payment only to new charges and charge me interest on the old? In 3 years I've been carrying a rewards card I've never done this. I know its only $20 but still!

The grace period on the new purchases goes away when you carry a balance from the prior month. So any activity on the card begins accruing interest immediately. That is how credit cards work.

[riverwed070707]

Further, at the bottom of the statement it has an interest breakdown that says the balance subject to interest is $1400... how is that possible? Thats more than the total statement amount.

[riverwed070707]

The grace period on the new purchases goes away when you carry a balance from the prior month. So any activity on the card begins accruing interest immediately. That is how credit cards work.

Ugh. At least it was a relatively cheap lesson to learn.

[riverwed070707]

So I have another question. Currently have a $2k balance. Do I need to pay that ASAP (ie will it accrue intrest through the month or can I wait til my normal payment which isn't scheduled til April 30?

[disneysteve]

total balance of the card which is currently about $2060

it has an interest breakdown that says the balance subject to interest is $1400... how is that possible? Thats more than the total statement amount.

If the balance is $2,060, why can't there be $1,400 subject to interest?

So I have another question. Currently have a $2k balance. Do I need to pay that ASAP (ie will it accrue intrest through the month or can I wait til my normal payment which isn't scheduled til April 30?

I'm actually not sure about that one. Perhaps someone else will chime in.

[ua_guy]

I'd call the issuing company to confirm the terms of the balance on the card. That could get nasty if any balance flipped to unfavorable terms and it was silently accruing interest until the next statement cutoff.

I goofed on one of my cards like that once. I called, talked to a rep, asked if they could forgive the $20 in interest or whatever because I've always been in good standing, pay on time, etc. They agreed to waive it. This was with one of the big issuing banks, too.

[mgkimsal]

I'd call the issuing company to confirm the terms of the balance on the card.

A bit OT, but while you're at it, you might wish to record the conversation as well, either via speaker phone or with some computer thing (I have a skype recorder and record a lot of stuff with support agents). 90+% of the time a recording gives me permission to record ("This call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes" - I take that as them granting me permission to record).

[Like2Plan]

I pay my cc in full each month. This month I managed to accidentally duplicate last months payment ($1050) instead of this months statement balance ($1193). Then I got hit with a $21 finance charge...

Guess I'm not clear how payment is applied. I have accrued new charges over the month that will be reflected on the next statement but shouldn't the interest only be for the $140 difference, not the total balance of the card which is currently about $2060? Or did they essentially apply my payment only to new charges and charge me interest on the old? In 3 years I've been carrying a rewards card I've never done this. I know its only $20 but still!

riverwed070707,
It is really frustrating when something like that happens.
It really depends on the terms and conditions of your specific credit card. My credit cards will charge interest based on the average daily balance if I do not pay in full and carry over a balance beyond the due date. So, it would be the $140 plus the new charges based on the average daily balance over the billing cycle.
This continues for one more billing cycle, so the sooner the balance is paid off, the better. So, assuming 2060 is your total balance for the next billing cycle--you would have to pay 2060 prior to the end of the billing cycle in order to stop accruing interest.

[riverwed070707]

Quick resolution. I called, explained what happened and was just going to ask how I needed to manage it to not have a bunch more interest hit the card. Rep was super friendly, didn't even let me finish explaining before saying "well that sounds like an honest mistake. Let me just take that off and make sure you don't get hit next month either" The card was Chase. Super impressed with and appreciative of their response.

[MonkeyMama]

I was going to say just call and ask them to remove the charge. They generally always do. But you figured that out!

I honestly don't remember this *ever* happening to me, EXCEPT I realized I had paid the wrong amount on my Target card maybe about a year ago. I immediately paid the difference when I realized my mistake, maybe a day after the due date. Anyway, they never even bothered to charge me any interest. ??? I just wondered if they automatically waived the fees versus dealing with me calling later and asking them to remove it. I remember reading the fine print trying to figure out what I would be charged and seeing I'd be hit with interest on the entire balance. Ouch! So imagine my surprise when the interest charge was $0. I suppose I could be in some promotion period or something, but I wasn't going to complain or ask.

[sblatner]

I was also going to say call and tell them your sob story. I once switched payments on two Citibank cards paying a large balance to one and a small balance to the other when it should have been the other way around. They looked at both cards, saw my mistake, switched the payments and made sure I didn't incur any extra charges. If you have a good history with them, they are usually willing to help you out.