Consumer complaint received 2023-05-09
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: MI
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Other problem

Complaint:
When I recently accessed my Navy Federal Visa rewards account I noticed that my minimum payment had jumped by @ {$80.00} going from {$330.00} ( 2 % of my balance ) to {$410.00} ( almost 2.5 % of my balance ). 

I contacted customer care on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX  XXXX to inquire why the minimum payment due had gone up when the balance had remained relatively the same. The agent informed me about a change in terms to all Navy Fed credit card accounts that changed the way they calculate the minimum balance. This is how the new terms read ( taken straight from the email they sent on XX/XX/2023 at XXXXXXXX XXXX  ) " Changes Coming to Your Credit Card Agreement If there are any problems with how this content is displayed, please view it in your web browser. 

RE : Credit card ending in XXXX  Thanks for choosing us for your financial needs. Effective XX/XX/2023, your GO REWARDS Credit Card Agreement and Disclosure ( " Agreement '' ) will be changed as follows : Minimum Payment Due : We're changing how we calculate your Minimum Payment Due. Currently, it's any past due amount plus the greater of 2 % of your new balance or {$20.00}. On the effective date, this will change to any past due amount plus the greater of {$20.00} or the sum of 1 % of your new balance plus interest and fees. This change will affect your Minimum Payment Due amount. '' This is what the agent quoted to me on the phone as well. When I questioned why the minimum payment due had gone up instead of down she proceeded to tell me " that this was a decision from Navy Federal for those that carried higher balances on their cards and that some member 's minimum payment due had actually gone down ''. When I asked her which members minimums due had gone down she replied with the following " those members who were carrying a lower balance had their payments reduced while those with higher balances had their payments increased. '' Needless to say, I was upset with that because I felt it was not fair to arbitrarily reward those members with the lower balances while punishing those with the higher balances, which I stated to the agent. I asked if I could opt out of the higher payment to which she stated " No ''. 
I believe this to be unfair credit practice on the part of Navy Federal to change the terms only to apply those terms to a select few while at the same time also changing the terms for others and not abiding by those terms. Case in point, as stated above my current payment of {$330.00} a month is 2 % of my balance, and the new payment of {$410.00} is roughly 2.5 % of my balance. If Navy Federal went by the new terms of agreement my minimum due should only be {$170.00} ( 1 % of my balance ). I believe their tactics to be in clear violation of the terms of agreement for their credit cards, both the old terms ( 2 % ) and the new terms ( 1 % ) I was told by the representative that I had no recourse but to pay the higher minimum amount because that was what Navy Federal ( arbitrarily ) imposed. This is not right or fair. 
The only solution I was offered was a 3-month short-term 0 % interest rate modification on my account, with a vacation month up front. I am not sure how this will affect my credit as it had to be submitted for " approval ''.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation