Consumer complaint received 2024-12-28 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Problem with cash advances
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
First, for the CapitalOne credit card statement periods ending XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX, I paid the credit card balance in full ( previous balance listed on each of these statements ) on or prior to the due date. Nevertheless, CapitalOne charged me interest on Cash Advances '' ( i.e., {$5.00} for XX/XX/XXXX, {$14.00} for XX/XX/XXXX, and {$4.00} for XX/XX/XXXX ). 

CapitalOne did not disclose in its credit card terms that it would treat the XXXX charges that appear on its CapitalOne credit card statements ( i.e., {$350.00} on XX/XX/XXXX ; {$740.00} on XX/XX/XXXX ; XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ) as Cash Advances. It states in the Paying Interest section of CapitalOnes terms that were provided to me on XX/XX/XXXX, that We will begin charging interest on cash advances and special transfers on the transaction date. However, special transfers are never defined in CapitalOnes terms. Furthermore, on each end-of-period credit card statement, there was no delineation of what constitutes a special transfer and no disclosure that XXXX charges ( that are imbedded along with all other purchase transactions ) would be considered Cash Advances. From each statement, because XXXX charges are imbedded with all other purchase transactions it appears that XXXX charges are considered purchase transactions. Finally, each credit card statement does not disclose the source of Cash Advances. 

When I phoned their customer service department on XX/XX/XXXX, to question the interest charges on Cash Advances, I was told that these XXXX charges are considered Cash Advances and that this is explained in the CapitalOne terms. There is no such disclosure in CapitalOnes terms. 

Second, I asked the CapitalOne customer service supervisor for the current outstanding balance of Cash Advances including accrued interest on the Cash Advance balance and how I could immediately pay off this balance to prevent incurring future interest charges on Cash Advances. I did not receive a definitive answer and was not provided with this final payoff amount. Instead, I was told that I need to pay the current outstanding balance of my credit card account in full ( including any pending credit card purchase charges ) ( i.e., as of XX/XX/XXXX, {$2500.00} + {$110.00} in pending charges ) and that I should not use my credit card for additional purchases through the close of the next credit card closing date. This implies that CapitalOne is prioritizing the payoff of purchase balances ahead of the payoff of interest on its Cash Advance balances and can not provide consumers with final payoff amounts. CapitalOnes policy that the payoff amount of Cash Advance balances plus accrued interest is predicated on no future purchase transaction charges to the credit card before the end of the credit card billing cycle is not disclosed in CapitalOnes terms. This means that I would essentially need to overpay my credit card account to avoid continuing to incur Cash Advance interest charges, perhaps in perpetuity.

I told the CapitalOne customer service representative that it was never disclosed that XXXX charges ( that appear in the billing statement as part of purchase charges ) would be considered Cash Advances. I was told to check the CapitalOne terms which I subsequently did. I have had this credit card since XXXX and when I opened this account, XXXX had just been founded. I'm certain that at that time, CapitalOne would not even have had terms that disclosed XXXX charged would be treated as Cash Advances. 

Furthermore, when I asked the CapitalOne customer service supervisor what the final payoff amount would be for the Cash Advance balance, she could not provide me with a final payoff that wasnt predicated on future purchase transaction use. This is deceptive practice that does not provide protection to consumers who desire to pay off the entire Cash Advance balance prior to the end of the credit card billing cycle.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation