Consumer complaint received 2022-08-17
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: OK
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Unexpected increase in interest rate

Complaint:
We currently have a credit card with XXXX through Comenity Bank. On XX/XX/22 I got into my account and looked to see what my total balance due was. You have to use the Comenity 's easypay because you can never get into account center. Once on, it gives you several option to pay : minimum amount, statement balance, current balance, and other amount. I checked to see how their payoff balance was calculated. Per their website, " the amount reflects the full account balance ( current revolving balance plus finance charges ) as of todays date. If you have promotional plans, we'll also include the full balance you owe on all existing plans ''. So I chose the statement balance to pay my account in full. Their site says " all same day online payments submitted before XXXX ET would be credited to the account the same day. It said it would send me an email receipt, which it never did ( thankfully I printed out the page ). On XX/XX/22 I received an email stating my next payment was due on XX/XX/22. I checked the website and it was showing that I owed an additional {$160.00} interest charge dating XX/XX/22. I waited a few days thinking that maybe they hadn't processed everything since I had paid the loan off in full. On XX/XX/22 I checked my account, again through easypay because you couldn't get on the website, and the charge was still there. On XX/XX/22, I called Comenity and was told that I didn't actually pay my balance in full because the interest charges don't show up until the following month. After having to transfer XXXX times all the way to a dispute supervisor ( dispute # XXXX ), I informed her that when I paid the statement balance I was under the impression that it was my total amount due as there is nothing on the site to indicate you still have interest owed or any option that says include interest in your final payment. She informed me she would put in a dispute asking for the remainder of the charge to be dismissed because there should be something on the website allowing customers to pay loan off in full without surprise charges the following month, because people think the statement balance is exactly what they owe. She said that since my account is in dispute, there would be no additional charges added, and that I should get a response back with the decision before anything changes on the account. Per their website, a dispute could take up to 90 days and " Once a dispute is completed, you will receive written communication informing you of the resolution of the disputed transaction ''. On XX/XX/22 I received an email stating a minimum payment was due. I was surprisingly able to get login to my account and noticed they now charged an additional {$4.00} interest charge fee for a new total of {$160.00}. I received no type of correspondence or follow-up whatsoever, and yes, I checked my spam. On the website, the payment options again are minimum payment, statement balance, current balance. It is almost impossible to get through to anyone and they just keep charging interest. So we're expected to continue to pay the statement balance ( all interest at this point ) and then next month they just add another interest charge on what we paid. People need to stay away from this bank and the XXXX credit card because their interest is how they continue to make money off of people.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief