Consumer complaint received 2022-08-26
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
I'd like to make a complaint about Chase 's deceptive use of flexible financing offers ( " My Chase Plan '' ) and its use of the term " interest saving balance ''.

I am someone who pays off my credit card, in full, every month. I have all of my cards set up on autopay so that they pay the full balance each month without any intervention from me. 

In XXXX, I made a large purchase of {$10000.00} on my card for a medical expense - a charge that I would normally have paid off in full that month - and Chase contacted me with a promotional offer to set up a flexible financing plan, or " My Chase Plan '' to spread that charge over 9 months, with 0 interest and 0 fees. While I have never in my life carried a balance on any credit card before, the promotional offer enticed me, since it was completely free. When I set up the plan, I was required to change my autopay settings from paying the " Statement Balance '' to paying an " Interest Saving Balance ''. Chase describes the difference between those two options as follows on the autopay page : " [ 'Statement Balance ' ] would pay off the total amount of your flexible financing offers at once. If you'd like to pay the monthly amount instead for the flexible financing offers you set up and avoid interest on new purchases, please choose " interest saving balance. '' For a few months, Chase auto-paid itself varying amounts each month, from {$1100.00} to {$1100.00}. I continued to make small purchases on my card, which I assumed were being paid off through this " Interest Savings Balance. '' Although the numbers were impossible for me to interpret due to the carried balance subject to my flexible financing offer, the amount charged varied each month and the total balance seemed to go down over time. Moreover, each month 's statement contained a section reading as follows, and leading me to believe that the total amount of new purchases each month were being included in each monthly autopayment : " What is an Interest Saving Balance? Pay the Interest Saving Balance every month by your due date to avoid interest on new purchases and avoid prematurely paying off your flexible financing offer balances. This amount includes your current statement new balance, minus your total balance for flexible financing offers, plus your monthly payment due for all flexible financing offers. It doesnt include disputed amounts. '' Suddenly, in XXXX, I received a standard email notification of an upcoming autopayment, which indicated that my " Interest Saving Balance '' that month was over {$5600.00}. I quickly logged on to check my card, as I did not remember making a large charge that month and was concerned that I could be the victim of fraud. But I only saw my usual, small purchases. I also checked all of my account settings to ensure nothing had changed and that I was still set up to pay the " Interest Saving Balance ''. Unable to figure out what was going on after studying my account and past statements for over 30 minutes, I called Chase. A representative was also perplexed, and took 15 minutes to study my account. Finally, she came back and explained that, contrary to what Chase had represented to me at the time I signed up for the flexible financing offer, contrary to what is shown on its autopay settings page on its website, and contrary to what is in every monthly statement I have received since XXXX, Chase was NOT including my new monthly charges in the autopay amount of " Interest Saving Balance '' each month. She explained that, unbeknownst to me, there was a promotional 0 % APR rate on my card until XX/XX/XXXX, so all of the charges I made from XXXX to XXXX had not been auto-paid, and were instead accumulating every month, only to suddenly come due in XXXX. None of this was properly disclosed. I frankly had no idea that there was any temporary promotional 0 % APR on my card ( since I never carry a balance ), and had no idea that selecting " Interest Saving Balance '', as I was required to do, would cause me to accumulate additional debt that was not being paid off every month. In fact, each month 's statement directly represents the opposite, saying that the " Interest Saving Balance '' " includes your current statement new balance, '' and further saying that " any promotional purchase APR offers '' are not included in the " flexible financing offers '' that are deducted from that Interest Saving Balance each month.

In this instance, I have not been financially harmed by Chase 's misrepresentations, other than perhaps through a small hit to my credit score. I was not charged any late fees or interest, and although I am surprised by the sudden {$5600.00} charge, I am fortunate to be able to pay it in full without issue. That being said, this practice was clearly misrepresented to me, and presumably other consumers, and Chase 's misrepresentations constitute, in my view, abusive and predatory lending practices that could seriously harm those who are less financially advantaged. I hope that the CFPB will investigate this and ensure that Chase updates its practices and disclosures so that other consumers are not harmed by sudden undisclosed charges.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation