Three years ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned consumers that some credit card companies weren’t clearly disclosing the risks of promotions, including deferred-interest offers that promise not to charge interest on purchases as long as the balance is paid off by a certain date. However, if that doesn’t happen customers can find their bill nearly doubled thanks to retroactive interest charges. Now the agency is setting its sights on retailers, urging them consider more transparent promotions for store-branded credit cards. [More]
deferred interest
Surprise Charges: Feds Advise Retailers To Make “No Interest” Store Credit Offers More Transparent
By 6.8.17
Reminder: Deferred Interest Credit Cards Aren’t All They’re Cracked Up To Be
By 10.21.15
Each year, consumers marking items off their holiday shopping lists are tempted by retailers’ store-branded credit cards and the offers of “0% interest for 12 months” or “special financing.” And this year – although it’s only October – is no different. [More]
Company Offering Deferred-Interest Loans For Dental Work Must Repay $700K To Consumers Over False Claims
By 8.19.15
Getting a root canal, a crown replaced, or even a simple filling at the dentist can really drain your bank account, especially if you don’t have insurance. That’s why a growing number of dental offices are offering third-party financing to patients. But sometimes these loans offer terms that are too good to be true. [More]
Reminder: Beware Of Deferred Interest Credit Card Offers This Holiday Season
By 11.18.14
Whether you shop online or at brick-and-mortar retailer this holiday season, you’ll undoubtedly be offered countless chances to save money with store-branded financing options offering “0% interest” for six, 12, 18 months. These can be incredibly tempting, but many people don’t realize they are often signing up for deferred interest accounts that can come back to bite you on the rear-end in a very nasty way. [More]
3 Things To Consider Before Signing Up For A Store Credit Card
By 12.20.13
As you make your way through the final days of this holiday shopping season, you will undoubtedly be asked on numerous occasions if you would like to save money on your purchase by signing up for a store credit card. It’s definitely tempting, but you need to be aware of just what you’re signing up for in order to get that discount. [More]
GE’s CareCredit To Refund $34.1 Million To Misled Consumers
By 12.11.13
CareCredit is a medical financing service operated by the folks at GE Capital. For almost all of its 4 million customers, CareCredit is a deferred interest loan, meaning cardholders who don’t pay off their balances in full by the end of the initial promotional period are hit with all of the interest that had been accruing during those months. That would be fine (and is quite common in retail credit cards), if the company hadn’t misled consumers into thinking CareCredit was an entirely interest-free product. [More]
Citicorp Deferred Interest Trap Springs Shut On Man Who Underpaid By $11
By 12.17.09
I suspect some readers will say that Assefa Senbet is to blame for screwing up one of his final payments to Citibank on a deferred interest loan agreement. They’ll be right–it was his responsibility. But he didn’t skip a payment, and he wasn’t late. In fact, he frequently overpaid in order to pay it off early. Near the end of the loan, however, he sent in a check for $70 instead of $81. As a consequence, he’s now paying off $887 in deferred interest fees at a 30% interest rate. [More]
