Consumer complaint received 2016-06-06
Product: Credit card — 
Issue: Balance transfer — 
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (NC)

On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX I used a balance transfer check for {$650.00} into my Sears MasterCard, from Citibank. There was a {$26.00} balance transfer fee, giving me a total outstanding of {$670.00}. The balance transfer had a 0 % APR until XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. For each month that followed, the min. payment due was $ XXXX/mo., which I paid on time, every month. Sears MasterCard offered a {$5.00} statement credit if I switched to paperless billing, so I switched and received my credit on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. 

Because the 0 % APR offer expired on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, I confirmed my total balance due as {$370.00}, listed on my XXXX/XXXX/XXXX statement. The minimum payment was due on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, so I issued two online payment orders to my bank : 1 ) pay, on XXXX XXXX, the same minimum due of {$25.00} that had been charged by Sears MasterCard for each of the 11 months prior, and 2 ) pay the remaining balance due of {$340.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. 

What I did not notice on my XXXX/XXXX/XXXX statement, was that for this XXXX bill, after having paid $ XXXX/month for each of the past 11 billing cycles, Sears had raised my minimum due to {$27.00} instead of {$25.00}. So, when I paid the {$25.00} on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, I was actually {$2.00} short. Subsequently, Sears charged me a {$27.00} late fee, which, because I was now paperless, I was unaware. This is a 1350 % penalty on an oversight due to a contract change incurred in the last month of a balance transfer offer before the debt was paid in full. 

Making matters worse is that because of this {$27.00} late fee, whereas I thought I had paid the credit card debt in full ( {$370.00} - {$25.00} - {$340.00} = {$0.00} ), I now had a {$27.00} balance on my account of which I was unaware. Since I had made the " final '' payment on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, it applied against my XX/XX/XXXX statement, so there was no delinquency notice XX/XX/XXXX. Of course, because there was still a balance of {$27.00}, the amount of the late fee from the XX/XX/XXXX {$2.00} minimum payment shortfall, when the XXXX/XXXX/XXXX due date passed, I was charged an additional late fee of {$27.00}, of which again I was unaware because I did n't check online statements for credit cards that had been paid in full 2 months prior. I now had {$54.00} in late fees all incurred off of a {$2.00} shortfall due to an oversight of not noticing a {$2.00} minimum payment required increase on the 11th month of a 12 month deal, 15 days before the original debt was paid in full according to the terms of the original agreement. 

I called Sears MasterCard, who was willing to waive XXXX of the late charges, plus the interest, but would not remove the XXXX late charge. However, had the first late charge not been charged, there would not have been a XXXX late charge, or interest. 

What Sears wants to keep, {$27.00}, is excessive. Every bill, except for the last, was paid in full, on time, and the last bill was paid on time, but was short only {$2.00} due to an oversight to an imposed change in contract. If they have to charge 28 %, or whatever is the going rate for credit card interest, I understand, but 1350 % is far too high to be reasonable or fair for someone who has a long history ( as in forever ) of paying debt on time, and in full.