Warning on credit cards, everyone. At least, on Citibank credit cards.

[puroy]

Got this email by a friend of mine. Grabe, more than 8 years na yung creditcard ko sa Citibank and never ako na-inform about this tactics. Anyways, good thing I always pay in full kaya never ko na-experienced ito.

Fair warning on credit cards, everyone. At least, on Citibank credit cards.



Did you know that if you let a certain amount “revolve” to the next period, the computation of the finance charges for that amount includes purchases in the CURRENT period?



Here’s what happened to me:



My bill last June 23 = 20,000.00



I paid only 15,000.00 on my due date last July 15. Hence, I let 5,000.00 “revolve” to the next period.



I spent over 90,000.00 between June 23 and July 23 using my card, all of which I intended to pay in full on my due date (August 15).



My expectation of my bill for July 23 = 5,000.00 + finance charges against 5,000.00 + 90,000. Right?



Wrong. My bill last July 23 = 5,000.00 + finance charges against 5,000.00 + 90,000.00 + finance charges against 90,000!!!



Yes, even if the 90k hasn’t “revolved” yet, I got interest charged against it because I let 5k revolve the previous period.



I got so mad I had my credit card cut. I’m back to the cardless world.

[aga_cruz]

buti na lang wala ako credit card

[shadow]

totoo ba ito?

[puroy]

yes, it's true...confirmed po yan nung friend ko. after nya malaman, pina-cut na nya agad yung cc nya. grabe talaga cc companies. lahat may loopholes para lang kumita.

[ronw123w124]

Ako naman, nagtataka ako why I never get my bill for my Shell Citibank, so I called them up yesterday morning to ask why my bill is taking so long, sabi nung nakausap ko my bill was sent last July 10 and that it was due on the 31st of July, so nag-panic ako then I just asked her to fax my billing statement, buti naman within 5 minutes I got a copy of my bill, I just went to the nearest bank and paid my bill in cash, kasi if I pay in check baka ma-overdue pa yon at patawan pa ako ng pagkalaki-laking interest.

[yapoy86]

bottomline mag bayad ng maaga... tatay ko may credit card din... pero hindi nya hinahayaan na meron outstanding balance na hindi bayad.. pati nga yung yearly renewal fee nya eh na haggle pa nya na free bawas na lang sa points kaya ayun wala na kokolekta credit card sa kanya..

[batangmahal]

yes, it's true...confirmed po yan nung friend ko. after nya malaman, pina-cut na nya agad yung cc nya. grabe talaga cc companies. lahat may loopholes para lang kumita.

grabe pala! they really want to milk the cash out of our pockets!
i had my citibank cc cut about a a couple of years back kasi too much ang charges! buti pa ang bpi, so far.

[impulzz]

Yup, its confirmed... just called citibank hotline... its
previous balance - payment + current purchases x 3.5% = finance charge

as per the operators explanations... all international credit card companies have the same computation... like standard charter, HSBC... she also mentioned it's because current purchases are considered borrowed money

so i got my equitable-BDO bill and computed their finance charge... and its previous balance - payment x 3.5% = finance charge

current purchases are not charged

[tidus1203]

Actually di naman yan scam kasi ganun naman talaga nakasulat yan sa terms and conditions when you get the card or the one written on the back in your statement. Of course full payers like us should not worry about it...

Ang alam ko lang na credit card that does not include current purchases as part of the principal charged with interest is BPI. I think BDO ganun din eh parang Citibank the way I read their terms and conditions.

[CVT]

I think you can get away with it(yata - since this was a few years ago), payment of surcharge on current purchases that is, if you pay the card within 3 days of your purchase for each of the items you purchased......

Of course, this defeats the purpose of credit cards where you pay the whole amount on one single payment....

6505:Bath: