Interest calculation on the Woolworths QF MC

[Deleted User]

I also got caught with short paying this card off, was 100% my fault and the under payment was around $200 in $15k...

The way they charge interest on this card is cough, I fully intend on telling them this when I ask for the Annual fee to be waived if they wish me to use their card for the next 12 months.

Don't get me wrong, I like this card, however it does have some harsh penalties that comes with it...!

So my plan is to ask for the annual fee to be waived later this year to help compensate the coughpy interest I had to pay (Interest on $14.8k for 2 months simply for an outstanding $200) Will be keen to hear how they respond... I currently spend +$100k p.a. on this card, but later this year I may be tempted to jump on another card such as the new HSBC Visa cad (1:1 earn) if I can get a discounted annual fee for that card...

 

[serfty]

... Interest on $14.8k for 2 months simply for an outstanding $200) Will be keen to hear how they respond...

That is indeed unfortunate, however I am not sure there are any Australian Credit card products that do not have the same 'feature'.

 

[Deleted User]

That is indeed unfortunate, however I am not sure there are any Australian Credit card products that do not have the same 'feature'.

Agree, but in hindsight I would have actually been better to just pay the minimum and at least have some "value" out of borrowing the full amount...

 

[cove]

This thread helps explain how banks make profits. Six days late was more than $300 in charges. Yes totally my fault and it was NO GO from my phone call to get a credit. I gave them a tax bill to get even so we are now square in my mind.

 

[awilcockson]

the coughpy interest I had to pay (Interest on $14.8k for 2 months simply for an outstanding $200)

It's ridiculous, isn't it? It should be illegal, I mean if you've paid back 99.9% of the amount outstanding, how can they justifying interest on the entire amount? And let's not get me started again on losing the interest free period for the next 2 months :evil: I'm getting so sick of having to maintain a positive balance on the card to avoid interest, luckily I'm back in the clear in a week's time.

 

[justin23]

Yeah its dodgy IMO. I rang and changed my billing period, and they did provided I had paid the minimum balance on the last bill (via Bpay as I told them)....

I have no qualms if interest is backdated on purchases not paid off in 55 days. But paying interest in full on items you had paid off is plain robbery. I certainly understand the fine print of this card now. I really only got it as a supplement to the AMEX (which I've stopped using now, due to the fees some merchants charge). Never had issues with the AMEX and always paid it off on time.

However the real clincher yesterday on the phone was I asked why my due date was the 26th and last month it was different. The answer was the due date is either 25 days one month and 30 the next. WTF.... designed to catch people out who do pay it off on time IMO.
And really I can achieve the same thing with another card and the woolies reward card. I get over 1000 points a month from woolies on groceries and petrol alone (only time i wish i had a family to eat more food!), so i'm happy with the points.

 

[Stephen65]

Interestingly AMEX is worst on this part - they can't just change the cycle date on their computer they have to issue a new card as one of the digits on the card number corresponds to the cycle

That's not been my recent experience. I recently obtained the Amex plat credit card that you get for free with the plat charge card and unlike every other card I have which have a due date near the end of the month this Amex credit card had a mid-month date.

So I rang them up and asked if they could change the due date to be towards the end of the month to be more convenient for me. They confirmed that they could change the billing cycle for the card, once, and will do so. No new card issue required.

 

[Moopere]

I'm getting so sick of having to maintain a positive balance on the card to avoid interest

I just put this card into my top drawer for 2 months and didn't use it. I got a (partial) refund of the interest charge first. They obviously didn't want me to use the card (smirk) because to do so would be to invite insane interest rates, so I obliged and another bank got the 1-3% or whatever it is that banks reap from merchants.

Its not easy though, not for me anyway. I don't have a fallback 1:1 M/C or VISA and had to really watch out for 2 months as I existed on Amex. Got by, didn't pay any extra for anything, but bills, usually government, council or utilities related, dont seem to _ever_ accept Amex which made things a bit uncomfortable for a bit

Hoping to score another 1:1 VISA/MC in 2012's free points season

 

[Deleted User]

I just put this card into my top drawer for 2 months and didn't use it. I got a (partial) refund of the interest charge first. They obviously didn't want me to use the card (smirk) because to do so would be to invite insane interest rates, so I obliged and another bank got the 1-3% or whatever it is that banks reap from merchants.

Its not easy though, not for me anyway. I don't have a fallback 1:1 M/C or VISA and had to really watch out for 2 months as I existed on Amex. Got by, didn't pay any extra for anything, but bills, usually government, council or utilities related, dont seem to _ever_ accept Amex which made things a bit uncomfortable for a bit

Hoping to score another 1:1 VISA/MC in 2012's free points season

I'm in the exact situation, looking for another card very soon to compliment this card....

The "new" HSBC visa looks good but for the lame sign on bonus and the pricey sign up annual fee,,,,

 

[Moopere]

I'm in the exact situation, looking for another card very soon to compliment this card....

The "new" HSBC visa looks good but for the lame sign on bonus and the pricey sign up annual fee,,,,

Not sure which new card you are talking about ... is it this?

HSBC Platinum Qantas Credit Card | HSBC Australia


First glance the web page reminds me of CitiBank (boo). High on glitz, low on detail. Anyone know where the PDS for the Platinum insurnace might be hiding for instance??? HSBC site just generically points to: zurich.com.au which is down at the moment.

[edit: The relative merits of the new HSBC Plat card are being discussed here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....s/hsbc-platinum-qantas-credit-card-32251.html]

 

[Deleted User]

Not sure which new card you are talking about ... is it this?

HSBC Platinum Qantas Credit Card | HSBC Australia

That's the one...

 

[redslert]

In the same boat.
I work in US a lot and time zones/dateline screws me up.

Missed my payment by 1 day and got slap with massive interest charge...Bpay is extremely slow as well.

I don't use the card any more... I rather put into onto a no points card than this piece of cough.
Yes I know it is my own fault but with every other card that I have being 1 or 2 days late there is no penalty.

 

[serfty]

...
Missed my payment by 1 day and got slap with massive interest charge...Bpay is extremely slow as well.
...

While Bpay is slow, as long as payment is made by BPay by the due date (working day before 6pm yada yada ..) then they'll adjust any interest/penalties incurred.

I had a situation where I Bpay'ed on the last possible day and it took 3 working days to hit the account.

In the mean time I was hit by a late payment fee and interest.

Once the BPay credited, the late payment fee and all interest was reversed - automatically.

 

[Moopere]

Mmm, interesingly, just got my monthly statement and there is a flyer attached (which I'll try and scan later) that informs me I need to make my BPay payment 3 days before the due date to ensure the payment goes through on time .... sounds like they are trying hard to weasel their way out of the standard BPay arrangement and give a false impression to customers of their rights.

 

[AdMEL]

Mmm, interesingly, just got my monthly statement and there is a flyer attached (which I'll try and scan later) that informs me I need to make my BPay payment 3 days before the due date to ensure the payment goes through on time .... sounds like they are trying hard to weasel their way out of the standard BPay arrangement and give a false impression to customers of their rights.

Definitely sounds like it! I wonder how the Ombudsman would view it! Things like that are very annoying!

 

[serfty]

Definitely sounds like it! I wonder how the Ombudsman would view it! Things like that are very annoying!

I noticed that as well.

The actual text reads:

BPAY Make a BPAY payment from the bank account of your choice. When prompted simply enter the Biller code 17574, and your credit card number as your reference number. Make sure you allow 3 business days for your payments to be applied to your account to avoid late payment. For further information regarding BPAY visit bpay.com.au

Note that it mentions "to avoid late payment" but with no mention of fees.

Since such is basically unenforceable; it may cover them somewhat for the temporary charging of interest/fees in cases like I posted but little else.

 

[markis10]

I think you are reading too much into it, someone making a BPAY at 3.31 with St George in Perth today would result in an effective date of Monday for payment, the three days being worse case scenario. Of course in a few weeks that 3.31 becomes 2.31PM, which would be easy to miss.

 

[serfty]

I think you are reading too much into it, someone making a BPAY at 3.31 with St George in Perth today would result in an effective date of Monday for payment, the three days being worse case scenario. ...

It depends upon the bank and it's agreements with bpay.

If I made a BPAY payment using my ANZ bank account at 3:31pm in Perth today, the effective payment date would be 23rd September.

 

[markis10]

It depends upon the bank and it's agreements with bpay.

If I made a BPAY payment using my ANZ bank account at 3:31pm in Perth today, the effective payment date would be 23rd September.

Exactly, as has been discussed before, and with some institutions having early or different cutoffs compared to inter bank transfers the scope for confusion is high with customers.

 

[serfty]

Exactly, as has been discussed before, and with some institutions having early or different cutoffs compared to inter bank transfers the scope for confusion is high with customers.

I guess that if one intends to leave it to the very last to make such a payment, they need to be fully aware of the T&C that relate to the payment. For ANZ it is 6pm AEST:

...
Bill payments requested before 6.00pm (AEST) on a Banking Business Day will be processed to your account on the same day. Transfers requested after this time may be processed on the next Banking Business Day ...