Be careful, interest charged by AMEX

Now, I must have missed something in the T&C's of my black AMEX card, but here we go.
I always pay off my card every month, but last month I had a higher than expected bill, as I had to pay for 2 lots of flights[:I]
So, I decided to pay off £1,300 and left £1,800 on the card. I was expecting to have to pay some interest, IE:£1,800 @ 1.57% for the month. But I was checking my account and saw that this months interest charge is £74.00[:0] I phoned up AMEX to discuss this, and was informed that as I hadn't paid off my card in full, I was liable to interest on ALL transactions from the day they are made, until the balance is paid off[V] Well, after I told the nice lady what I thought of that, she agreed to halve the charge as a goodwill gesture, so something I guess. So, just a warning, if you are like me, and have trouble understanding all the fine details of some card systems, make sure you pay off this card in full every month or you do not receive ANY interest free period on ANY purchase transaction.[:?]

[Decker]

Regretfully that is a common "gotcha" with most cards.

[ChuckC]

But no less revolting.[:$][B)]

Chuck-

Originally posted by Decker
Regretfully that is a common "gotcha" with most cards.

And the main reason credit card companies make lots of money[n]. The other crafty ploy is to offer a 0% balance transfer for x months which recindes after the first purchase transaction is made (so cops loads of interest for them).If you transfer any balances on one of these deals don't spend a penny on the new card until the ENTIRE balance is paid in full (and within the free interest period allowed or they'll sting you for even more).

I had underpaid mine by £0.69 and was charged £64.20! I asked for a full breakdown of how it was calculated and they obviously couldn't explain (or be bothered to) and gave me a refund!

I did the calculation many years ago at a time when I would occassionally pay 70-80% of the bill and leave a few hundred on the card till the next month.

In most cases it is better to pay the lot and then take out cash advances to make up for the additional amount that you would have preferred not to pay.

Phil FM