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I'm 39 years old and apparently still don't fully understand credit cards

Posted on 1/2/24 at 8:02 pm
Posted by SECMeanSmore
Member since Dec 2023
117 posts
Posted on 1/2/24 at 8:02 pm
Disclaimer: in my defense I religiously pay off balances each month, so paying interest is foreign unless I mess up.

So I messed up: I use online pay but enter them manually and fat fingered a date. Payoff was two days late, so I got hit with the fees and interest. Fine, my own fault, I accept it. Schedule the full payment.

Now, here's where I'm confused: my next statement has a higher interest payment than the prior one! Ok, I get that my 2 day late payment went to the fee and interest before the principal. But shouldn't I be paying at most the interest on the small chunk of principal left from the first statement, not all of it accumulated? The spending was nearly identical. What the hell am I not understanding here?
Posted by LSUcam7
FL
Member since Sep 2016
7915 posts
Posted on 1/2/24 at 8:15 pm to
Sounds like a statement cycle issue.

Did you increase the second month’s payment to cover the balance plus interest from month 1?
Posted by Joshjrn
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2008
27260 posts
Posted on 1/2/24 at 8:21 pm to
Late payments are treated differently than on time minimum payments. You likely triggered a clause in your contract that jacked up the interest rate. If you've actually been an on time payer thus far, I would call the credit card company and see if you can get a one time reversal.
Posted by GoldenGuy
Member since Oct 2015
10925 posts
Posted on 1/2/24 at 8:36 pm to
quote:

So I messed up: I use online pay but enter them manually and fat fingered a date. Payoff was two days late, so I got hit with the fees and interest. Fine, my own fault, I accept it. Schedule the full payment.


Call the credit card company. If they’re worth a shite (CapOne in my case), they’ll note it’s your first time and undo the added charges when they see the payment came in.
Posted by CajunTiger92
Member since Dec 2007
2821 posts
Posted on 1/2/24 at 8:53 pm to
quote:

But shouldn't I be paying at most the interest on the small chunk of principal left from the first statement, not all of it accumulated? The spending was nearly identical. What the hell am I not understanding here?


Likely you no longer have the grace period so interest on every purchase starts as soon as you charge the purchase to the card. To stop this you will need to pay off the entire balance now, as in tonight. You have to bring the balance to zero.
Posted by LSURussian
Member since Feb 2005
127005 posts
Posted on 1/3/24 at 8:21 am to
Not paying the balance in full by the due date means the interest for the next cycle is based on the average balance on the account during that cycle not the statement end balance.

So, since the balance is increasing with new purchases you've made, the interest amount also increases.
Posted by Pelican fan99
Lafayette, Louisiana
Member since Jun 2013
34961 posts
Posted on 1/3/24 at 9:12 am to
If you call they almost for sure will waive the interest/late fee
Posted by Mariner
Mandeville, LA
Member since Jul 2009
1957 posts
Posted on 1/3/24 at 3:03 pm to
Just call them and ask for a redo. They will see that you are well established with them and take off the charges. You can’t do that every month but definitely every once in a while
Posted by Who_Dat_Tiger
Member since Nov 2015
18146 posts
Posted on 1/3/24 at 4:10 pm to
I would just call and they will forgive the interest payments.

Funny enough the same thing happened to me last month. I always pay my credit card in full every single month. With the holidays I forgot to pay my credit card and had late fees and interest payments which pissed me off because I’ve never had to pay those penalties in my life. When I called they knew I’ve had a card with them for well over a decade and they forgave it immediately no questions asked. Gave me a full credit on my next statement cycle for all the late fees and interest.
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