Consumer complaint received 2024-07-24
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Other problem
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE (FL)

I accepted a Balance Transfer/Check Promotion offer from Barclays, on or around XXXX of XXXX. It was a 0.00 % interest free loan payable on XX/XX/XXXX, it included a 5 % balance transfer fee and the amount of the Balance Transfer/Check Promotion I used was {$20000.00}. 

I received my statement for the month of XXXX, due XX/XX/XXXX, and the total statement balance was {$22000.00} - due XX/XX/XXXX. Which I paid in full on XX/XX/XXXX. I was under the impression that this would satisfy not only my existing charges from the previous month, but also my outstanding loan amount of {$20000.00}. 

It wasn't until I ( thankfully ) called Barclays to confirm my above understanding that I was told some unpleasant and in my opinion rather one-sided, anti-consumer, and for lack of a better term slimy, information. 

Apparently Barclays automatically - there is nothing a consumer can do to alter or affect this - applies the payment, in this case {$22000.00} thusly - to the highest interest baring balances first and then to the lower interest balances last. Well, on the surface that doesn't sound too anti-consumer, but lets take it a step further. 

Barclays in this ( and every other credit card customer of theirs who takes one of these Balance Transfer/Check Promotion offers min you ) case chose to divide my payment thusly - First is satisfies the amount from the past billing cycle - again reasonable ... however here is where it gets slimy, they then satisfy amount of money owed on the CURRENT billing cycle - in other words they take and apply the payment made to an amount which hasn't even come due yet, nor has the current billing cycle 's statement even been generated yet, and then the final leftover amount is applied to the 0.0 % Balance Transfer/Check Promotion offer balance of {$20000.00}. 

If I had not have called to verify that I had met my obligations on the {$20000.00} Balance Transfer/Check Promotion offer , then I would have never known this, and I would have had an outstanding balance with ~14 months worth of interest of about {$2100.00} ( the amount of charges I had made on the current biling cycle that again hadn't even closed nor a statement been generated for me to pay yet, or in other terms I was still within the grace period. 

This is in my opinion unconscionable and wrong, while those charges I had yet to be billed for would ( eventually ) indeed have a normal 21 % APR, they shoud not in my perspective be absorbing any of my payment, because those charges have not even been billed to me yet, this feels absolutely and entirely preditory in nature and I believe this practice ought to be either outlawed, or a consumer should have the right to allocate their payment as they chose, not as Barclays not only defaults to, but when I called I was told there was NO ONE at Barclays who could amend the allocation of my payment. They have chosen how to apply my payment in a way that benefits them, and only them, and it is clearly not in the consumers best interest. 

I have now had to pay {$2100.00}, more than what my current stated balance is, because I also have pending charges from recently using my card today, that I have to make sure I cover those sums as well to avoid paying interest.