Consumer complaint received 2017-08-05
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
XXXX ,  XXXX ,  XXXX  Comenity credit cards I 've had all of these store cards for years ( except JJILL ) with no problems. No interest charges, no underserved late fees before they became Comenity.
Apparently some time in   XXXX   they switched from whatever servicer they were to Comenity and I have had nothing but problems every since.
The following information is specific to  XXXX  because it is the latest of my problems with this credit card servicer but it applies to all Comenity credit cards listed above.
When I originally opened a   XXXX    Credit card we paid our paper bill every month and had no problems. I do n't know when we went paperless but my recollection is that we were on automatic payment prior to  XXXX  when the Comenity servicer took over service. We moved in   XXXX   of last year. Since then I have n't received any bills on my seldom used Comenity credit cards and so received late charges and finance charges on all of them.
I went on line to see what happened and realized that we are on paperless billing with no ability to automatically pay these credit cards. Email is not a reliable nor secure way to make sure my credit cards are paid on time with all the junk mail we receive from these same stores. Also, I called on all of the above cards, within the last month and made them go back to paper bills and still was never told about the new finance charge fees until today! At least   XXXX   's had the decency to explain to me about the new way finance charges are being calculated monthly on all charges even if your bill does n't show a recent charge.
I object to credit card companies having the ability to switch this way and still have no way to automatically pay ALL CURRENT charges in order to never be late and never receive finance charges with no errors.
I feel this is deliberate and so different from previous ways of paying credit cards as to constitute fraud.
I called  XXXX  this prior month when I received a late fee notice and finance charges and they explained why I was getting a late fee and finance charge bill. They told me what my current balance was, took off the late fee and gave me my current balance including my finance charges and let me pay it in full that day on the phone. I put it back on paper billing now that we have a permanent address so I would n't ever be late again. Even though they did n't take off all the finance charges I felt this was fair enough not to cancel my credit card.
Now I receive a bill for {$1.00} in finance charges in my bill for closing date  XXXX / XXXX /2017. I called to find out why when I paid in full over the phone last month and they explained the new way of doing finance charges. I spoke with  XXXX  over the phone and she confirmed for me that there is no way to automatically pay my balance in full every month on their websites and how the new financing calculations work so I closed all my Comenity accounts. Again, if there is no way to INSURE that you are never late, I feel is purposeful and misleading.
I just want others to be aware and my complaint on file as to the the unfairness of not being able to be assured that my bill is never paid late nor incur finance charges.
It should be REQUIRED that any credit company have the ability to have automatic payment online if they have paperless billing.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief