Consumer complaint received 2018-02-14
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: CO
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
I made a purchase through XXXX that was financed through a credit card provided by Barclay 's. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I logged into the Barclay 's card portal to setup the recurring payments to ensure that the card was paid promptly and for more than the minimum amount each month. On this date I setup a recurring monthly payment to occur 3 days prior to my billing cycle which occurs on the XXXX of each month with the first bill cycle to occur on XX/XX/XXXX. 

In addition, due to confusing language about when this takes affect or could take affect, I also made an initial payment of XXXX dollars to cover any limitations of the Barclay 's automated payment system. 

On the XX/XX/XXXX I was hit with a late fee for not making a payment on my card. 

I contacted Barclay 's identifying that I had setup both recurring payments and an initial payment on this card and that not only did I need the late fee removed ( not waived because it should have never been applied ) but I want verification that no negative action would be taken by Barclays. This communication has taken place through their portal between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 

Barclay 's waived ( not removed ) the late fee but refused to verify that this would not be reported to the credit bureaus. I notified Barclay 's on the XX/XX/XXXX that I would then forward this concern to the CFPB for further investigation. 

I do not recall the exact messaging of their recurring payments but as evidenced by my initial manual payment of XXXX dollars plus the setup of the recurring payment for XXXX dollars per billing cycle I made a reasonable attempt to work within their system 's constraints ( Constraints that are arbitrary and appear to be at odds with the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of XX/XX/XXXX). It is unreasonable for an automated electronic system to require more than 21 days for a recurring payment to take affect. 

Here is a copy of the transcripts of the communication : Customer XXXX XXXX via XXXX XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Barclay Customer support, Unfortunately, the messaging that you have is not clear and as evidenced by the initial payment and setup of the recurring payments I performed, I did attempt to pay all components timely. It is clear I was attempting to jump through the hoops Barclays has setup in an effort to trip up their borrowers. It is unfortunate that Barclays has taken this tactic against its borrowers and the persons it has issued credit to. 

I fully understand that the FFIEC requires all banks to report accurate information on credit bureau reports. 

However, my concern is that the way this system appears to be setup would violate the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009.  I understand that Barclay 's is choosing to not take responsibility for what is clearly a problematic system and my actions with Barclay indicate clearly my intention to pay promptly and on time. 

It would make sense given Barclays desire to shed responsibility to forward this concern over to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 
Response Customer Service via Email XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Dear XXXX XXXX : Thank you for contacting us regarding your Barclaycard XXXX  Signature with XXXX Rewards. We can certainly address your inquiry regarding the activity on your account. 

We apologize for any concern, after review of your account, we are pleased to inform on XX/XX/XXXX we waived the {$27.00} late fee that posted on XX/XX/XXXX. This credit will reflect on your next statement. It can also be viewed online once it has posted to your account by selecting the Activity & Statements ' menu and clicking the 'Transactions ' option. From there you can choose to view Posted transactions or Temporary authorizations and can filter the time frame by using the drop down menu. 

Our records indicate you enrolled in our repeat payment program on XX/XX/XXXX. When setting up repeat payments we advise it will take up to one billing cycle to begin and that you will need to manually schedule the current months payment. We can confirm that this alert is displayed within the provided disclosures when finalizing the repeat payment process. Where no payment was manually entered, your account went past due. 

Please note that our payment system only initiates payments after your statement closing date. Currently your statement closing date falls on the XXXX of every month. Where your repeat payments were initiated on XX/XX/XXXX your first repeat payment could not be set up until after XX/XX/XXXX when your next billing cycle closed. We can confirm that your first repeat payment has been scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX. You can confirm this directly online by clicking the Payments menu and selecting the 'Payment activity ' option. The following page will show your 'Pending payments ' as well as your 'Past payments '. Keep in mind that our system will automatically modify your repeat payments to pay at least your minimum payment requirement. 

We regret to inform you that we are unable to change the way we report to the credit bureaus and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please note we currently update your credit report monthly and it may take 30 days for the credit bureaus to update their records. While we do not report on a specific date, we typically update within a few days of your statement closing date. Our records indicate your closing date currently falls on the XXXX of the month. Please keep in mind, if the closing date falls on a weekend or holiday, your statement will close on the previous business day. Your payment due date will be the same day of each month and the payment will be due at least 21 days from the date the billing cycle closes. Please be advised that for fair banking procedures, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council ( FFIEC ) requires all banks to report accurate information on credit bureau reports. 

We hope you find this information helpful and we thank you for your continued business. If you have any other questions or concerns, please reply to this message. 

Sincerely, Customer Service Customer XXXX XXXX via XXXX XXXX   XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX No, this wasn't processed after the date of recurring payment. The recurring payment was setup on XX/XX/XXXX. The first date of recurrence would have been XX/XX/XXXX which is most certainly not before XX/XX/XXXX. You will see I did also submit an initial payment of XXXX dollars to ensure whatever shenanigans Barclays would try to pull would not be pulled. 

You haven't waived any late penalty as I did not incur a late penalty due to your system 's fault and not the fault of the borrower in this case. 

Please verify that this late-payment will be removed from this account and that no negative action will be taken by Barclay 's for the failure of the Barclay system. This verification is required for my records. 
Response Customer Care via Email XX/XX/XXXX XXXX pm Dear XXXX XXXX : Thank you for contacting us regarding your Barclaycard XXXX  Signature with XXXX Rewards. We can certainly address your concern regarding the payments on your account. 

At this time, we can confirm that your recurring payments were successfully set up on XX/XX/XXXX ; however, as this was processed after the date that your recurring payments are automatically scheduled, the first recurring payment will not properly schedule until your next due date. A notification should have been displayed on the screen advising of this, and that a one-time payment would still need to be made by the due date, at the time that your recurring payments were setup. We can confirm that going forward, these payments will post monthly. 

Please know, whenever payment is not received for at least the amount of the minimum payment due prior to the XXXX XXXX ET cut off time on your payment due date shown on the monthly statement, a late payment fee will be applied to the account. 

We are pleased to inform you that we have waived the late payment fee in the amount of {$27.00} that posted on XX/XX/XXXX. This will lower your minimum payment due down to {$120.00}, and this credit will reflect on your account within 3 business days. 

We also offer several email alerts that will help keep you informed about your account. To set up or change your account alert settings, you will need to click the 'Services ' tab that is located near the top of the page, then select the 'Alerts ' link. 

We would like to thank you for being a part of our family of credit cards, and we hope you find this information helpful. If you have any other questions or concerns, please reply to this message. 

Sincerely, Customer Care Customer XXXX XXXX via XXXX XXXX   XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX I have a recurring payment setup on my account. This should pull XXXX dollars towards the payment. Each month 3 days before the payment date, so this should have pulled on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I received an email stating that I am behind on my payments. This appears to be an error with the recurring payment function of the site. Please correct this and ensure my account is NOT dinged for any interest, late payment or other negative account status.

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 explanation