Consumer complaint received 2022-09-06
Company: FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF OMAHA
State: MA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Charged too much interest

Complaint:
I am filing this complaint because my credit card company gave me misleading information in order to get me to make a balance transfer from a different credit card to theirs. In XXXX of 2022, I called the First National Bank of Omahas ( FNBO ) customer service line at XXXX to get details regarding their limited-time balance transfer offer. The customer service representative for FNBO confirmed that the special would take a balance from a higher interest credit card and allow me to make monthly payments on that transfer at a rate of 4.99 % fixed APR until that balance was paid off. I was further informed that I could continue to use the credit card for regular purchases, and that if I paid these purchases off each month, I would not accrue any regular purchase interest at the variable rate ( currently 24.24 % ). I have always paid my purchases off fully each month to avoid the higher interest. I fully understood and accepted that I would be accruing interest on the balance transfer at the 4.99 % rate. I agreed to this offer and on XX/XX/2022 I transferred a balance of {$5700.00} to my FNBO VISA. 

When I received my XX/XX/2022 FNBO statement in XXXX, I observed the balance transfer amount as expected. On XX/XX/2022 I called FNBO customer service at XXXX and spoke with XXXX. I asked XXXX what my XX/XX/2022 payment should be to avoid any interest on my regular purchases and he replied Pay all of your regular purchases AND your Minimum Payment Due to avoid the higher variable interest rate. On XX/XX/2022 I paid {$560.00} as instructed to do by XXXX. When I received my XX/XX/2022 FNBO statement, I observed a charge of {$9.00} for interest on regular purchases at the rate of 24.74 %. On XX/XX/2022 I called FNBO customer service at XXXX and spoke with XXXX. She told me that the interest was a mistake and that she would credit that back to me. I asked XXXX what my XX/XX/2022 payment should be to avoid any interest on my regular purchases and she replied Pay all of your regular purchases AND your Minimum Payment Due to avoid interest at the higher variable rate. On XX/XX/2022 I paid {$690.00} as instructed to do by XXXX. The {$9.00} interest wrongly charged to my account was credited back to me as promised. 

When I received my XX/XX/2022 FNBO statement, I observed a charge of {$14.00} for interest on regular purchases at a rate of 25.49 %. On XX/XX/2022 I called FNBO customer service at XXXX and spoke with XXXX. She told me that the interest was a mistake and that she would credit that back to me. I asked XXXX what my XX/XX/2022 payment should be to avoid any interest on my regular purchases. She put me on hold and after speaking with a supervisor, she informed me that the only way to not accrue interest in the higher variable rate was to pay off the entire credit card statement balance ; including REGULAR PURCHASES AND THE FULL BALANCE TRANSFER AMOUNT. I questioned this response and XXXX again explained that I can not use the credit card for regular purchases if I do not want to pay interest at the 26.24 %, no matter how much I paid each statement. I told XXXX that the balance transfer special was deceptive and that I would be filing a complaint against the FNBO. 

On XX/XX/2022 I paid {$800.00} to the FNBO. This amount was {$140.00} MORE THAN the amount of my regular purchases AND my Minimum Payment Due combined. When I received my XX/XX/2022 FNBO statement, I observed a new charge of {$12.00} for interest on regular purchases at a rate of 26.24 % ; even after paying MORE THAN the amount of purchases AND the Minimum Payment Due. The {$14.00} charge for interest from XXXX was not credited back as promised by XXXX. Each call to the FNBO customer service line averages approximately 40 to 50 minutes. The representatives are very friendly, but this is a very frustrating use of my time as a customer. I can not continue to place these unproductive calls. 

At this time I am not able to pay off the balance transfer in full. The whole reason I made this transfer was to be able to make monthly payments at the limited-time special low rate. The FNBO is now forcing me to either stop using my card for regular purchases, or to pay off my entire balance. I believe I was tricked into making the balance transfer to begin with. I am looking to have the interest from XXXX ( {$14.00} ) and the interest from XXXX ( {$12.00} ) credited back to me. I also want to be provided with a fair and reasonable formula regarding regular monthly purchases and the balance transfer amount. I have NO PROBLEM with paying the 4.99 % balance transfer interest each month as I agreed to from the start. Thank you for looking into this matter.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief