Consumer complaint received 2024-03-23
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Charged too much interest
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (NJ)

I have a XXXX Chase XXXX. In XXXX, I used my credit card often for everyday purchases & frequently paid the balance in full each month to avoid interest. In XX/XX/XXXX, I utilized their 0 % interest balance transfer offer & transferred {$6700.00} to this XXXX Chase XXXX. However, I continued to make purchases. From XXXX XXXX - XXXX XXXX, I made payments that often exceeded the new purchase total. However, these 4 monthly payments were applied to any carry-over new purchases total and any interest billed. My 0 % interest balance transfer of {$6700.00} was NEVER reduced for those 4 months, despite excessive payments. This was expected as it aligned with the " How to Avoid Paying Interest on Purchases '' section on the statement. This is not my concern. 
My concern is that beginning XX/XX/XXXX, Chase changed how they applied payments to its outstanding balances ; however the consumer advisement on their statements for the " How to Avoid Paying Interest on Purchases '' statement has not changed for XXXX ; how my payments are applied has. In XXXX XXXX, I charged {$190.00} in new purchases, with a {$530.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The XXXX XXXX statement advised a {$81.00} minimum payment due XX/XX/XXXX. I paid {$900.00} for this billing cycle to attempt to cover all of these charges. However, my payment was not applied as it was in the XXXX. Instead, in XXXX XXXX, this was the beginning of misapplying payments where the payment was not posted to the highest interest-bearing balance that was billed. And there was no notice indicating a change in billing posting. 
Moreover, my {$6700.00} balance transfer balance was reduced by {$120.00}, and one can assume the prior {$190.00} balance was impacted. However, my XXXX XXXX statement now showed {$380.00} was the new Balance Subject to Interest Rate. Again, what was the {$900.00} applied towards then? I paid another {$900.00} in XXXX for the XX/XX/XXXX due date & only charged {$62.00}. That would cover all of the Balance Subject to Interest as stated in the statement ; however, it was not. Instead, Chase applied {$490.00} towards my balance transfer balance for XXXX & reduced my balance subject to interest from {$380.00} to {$150.00}, giving them cause to continue to bill me interest month over month. 
This predatory practice continued until XX/XX/XXXX, whereby I made excessive payments to reduce my obligation on the Balance Subject to Interest, and those payments were increasingly applied to the 0 % interest balance transfer instead of the higher interest rate balance that is advised on the Chase credit card statement month over month. This is an unfair, predatory lending practice as Chase applied my payments inconsistent with what they have printed & benefited in collecting & billing interest. 
I finally paid down enough of the mixed balance & did not make any new purchases. Recently, on XX/XX/XXXX, I made a single purchase for {$2400.00}, paid {$2400.00} the same day & paid an additional {$500.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, all within the same billing cycle. I had no prior purchase balance, only a 0 % balance transfer balance of {$4400.00}. I accepted the XXXX misapplied payments as a fluke, which would not surely occur again. Well, as it stands, the {$2900.00} in payments I made for the XXXX billing was misapplied to benefit Chase yet again, and therefore bill me interest. The " How To Avoid Interest on Purchases '' consumer advisement continues to state Chase will apply any payments made to the minimum balance owed first, then the highest rate balances second, which in this case, is my {$2400.00} purchase at 21.24 %, then the third highest rate is my 0 % interest on my {$4400.00} balance transfer balance. Instead, my statement shows a {$1200.00} Balance Subject to Interest without cause.

This will cause me to repeat the same slow reduction in the Balance Subject to Interest that benefits Chase to bill me interest month over month. It is unfair and deceptive to apply a large portion of my excessive payments to a 0 % interest balance while continuing to bill me 21 % interest on another balance month over month. The statement does not indicate how I may reduce this impact either. Moreover, it is unfair to offer a consumer a short-term loan through a 0 % balance transfer but then deceptively apply payments that exceed the minimum payment towards the lowest rate balance, which would be the 0 % short-term loan, while continuing to bill the consumer at 21 % on new balances. Use of the credit card for purchases at a higher rate & being billed while carrying an interest-free loan would cause a disadvantage for the borrower as the interest on purchases & the balance themselves would compound exponentially. This would cause me & borrowers like me to perpetually stay in debt if Chase is allowed to bill interest unfairly, which solely benefits Chase & minimally benefits the borrower.