New Fee Showing up on my Credit Card Statement

[John Galt III]

I have AT&T Universal Card with "no annual fee". I've had the card for 25 years. In January's statement, I had a "minimum interest charge" of 50 cents, even though I always pay off the monthly balance in full. I had some other very unusual stuff going on with that statement, so I hoped this "minimum interest fee" was associated with that stuff. I paid off the January amount, and awaited the February statement.
February statement just arrived and the same annoying 50 cent "minimum interest fee" is there.
Either January's unusual activities kicked off this stupid fee somehow, or AT&T Universal Card has decided to impose this new fee on people like me who never carry a balance. (The 50 cent fee appears in the FEE category, but is called "minimum interest charge". My interest costs are zero).
I'm thinking of canceling the card, and going to a different card with none of this crap, but of course the new card could just change their policy later and add the same fee.
Maybe if I threaten to cancel, they will remove the fee.
50 cents times 12 months is only $6 but of course it's the principle of the thing. Thin edge of the wedge, etc.

I haven't called them yet.

Any input appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Walt34]

Humph. I'd call them, give them a chance to explain, but if they didn't take it off I'd cancel the card. There's plenty of free ones out there.

The fees they collect from the merchants aren't enough?

 

[Bestwifeever]

Call the cc company right now. I have that same card and no fee is being charged. The minimum just means that if there is any interest due under fifty cents, it will be increased to the minimum of fifty cents. If something crossed in your last statement that caused a little interest to be charged, the cc company's computers probably figured more interest on the tiny balance left.

But a call to them should definitely result in both months fees being credited back to you.

 

[scrabbler1]

I agree with Walt and Bestwifeever.

 

[sengsational]

I had a similar issue. You can try overpaying, including paying current charges, so when the bill comes, it will show negative (they owe you money). If the charge is still there, then I'd call and see what the deal is.


If you care about your credit rating kn the short term, you probably should avoid cancelling your card. You might get a replacement card before ditching this one.

 

[Animorph]

Yeah, get the card balance down to $0 or below. Just paying the billed amount doesn't necessarily stop interest charges if you have new purchases on the card already.

 

[Hermit]

Every time I've had those types of issues I have just called and asked them to take the charges off. They look at my payment history and take them off. I've never had a problem that was not solved with a call.

 

[Delawaredave5]

I have that card - just checked - I do not show any "minimum interest" charges.

 

[BTravlin]

Did you get a cash advance a couple of months back and pay it back quickly? If yes, that could be the reason for the small charges.

 

[John Galt III]

Thanks for the replies. I'll call today and see what's going on.

 

[John Galt III]

Did you get a cash advance a couple of months back and pay it back quickly? If yes, that could be the reason for the small charges.

Yes, opening a PenFed account in January resulted in a cash advance being issued to me by the credit card. The credit card charged me a $5 fee for the cash advance, and at the same time, this 50 cent "minimum interest fee" showed up. I paid off the whole amount right away, fees and all. But the 50 cent fee still appears on the next statement.

 

[Texas Proud]

Yes, opening a PenFed account in January resulted in a cash advance being issued to me by the credit card. The credit card charged me a $5 fee for the cash advance, and at the same time, this 50 cent "minimum interest fee" showed up. I paid off the whole amount right away, fees and all. But the 50 cent fee still appears on the next statement.

If you do a cash advance, they start charging interest from the first day you have the advance..... there is no way you can pay it off without incurring interest....


You probably got it the second month because it was not paid off on the close of your stmt. on the first month.... IOW, after they issued your stmt, you still owed money.... yes, you paid it off in time, but it was accruing interest until they received the money....


That is why I never get money from a CC....

 

[imoldernu]

Thanks for the info on the "cash advance"... was considering a small amount a while back, waiting an banking tranaction from another bank... Happens again, will go to PayDay loans...

 

[John Galt III]

Update. Thanks for the replies. I called the credit card customer service, and got a very nice lady who told me what's going on. Yes, it was the cash advance that caused both 50 cent fees. It had to go through two billing cycles, for some reason.

She also mentioned that in the future I could use a debit card to open an account, and it would not be considered a cash advance, so would not incur cash advance fees and interest.

And she said these two "minimum interest fees" were only there due to the cash advance, and are not some new fee they just decided to add, and they will not be on my next statement, as long as I don't have any more cash advances.

 

[braumeister]

... not some new fee they just decided to add.

No, that will start showing up next month. Watch for "Telephone inquiry processing fee"

 

[John Galt III]

no, that will start showing up next month. Watch for "telephone inquiry processing fee"

LOL ! No doubt !

 

[pb4uski]

Thanks for the info on the "cash advance"... was considering a small amount a while back, waiting an banking tranaction from another bank... Happens again, will go to PayDay loans...

Don't you need to have a payday to get a payday loan?