Natwest have massively increased minimum credit card payment!!

[Hopefullyberidingsoon]

Just noticed when scrolling thru my online statement, mines gone up from £170 ish to £320 ish.
Not the greatest just before xmas 😢

Is it not a percentage of the total amount owed?
I'm not with NatWest, but my minimum payment is 5% of the total.

OP!

Have you been through your statement? Did your last payment go through? This happened to me once (with NatWest actually!) when I'd made a payment to the card, but it wasn't on the statement. So my payment for the following month looked like it had doubled.

Have they written to you at all? Have you called them? Was the card a certain % of interest for a certain period and just ended?

I just don't think this can be right OP, not without warning.

Is this under the new plans to make sure you're clearing more than just the interest?

If it isn'; they can put it off; but they might stop further spending on the card if you ask them too. It'd depend if that was enough to flag you as potentially in trouble. Worth a call!

Its what they are all doing to avoid 'persistent' debt accounts.

I'd imagine you've had notice and had to opt out of the new enhanced payment buried somewhere in the small print of a recent statement

Repayments have gone from 2.25% to the interest plus 2.5%!!

How much do you owe? I have a credit card with Natwest my minimum payment is £5/month.

That must be quite a credit card bill if that's the minimum payment!

I would have thought you'd have been given written notification but agree with others that it is probably about making sure you are actually reducing your debt

Crikey, that's a huge amount on a credit card! I'm guessing you're living beyond your means. However, if you can't lay, you need to contact them about it. They may freeze the interest so that you pay it off quicker.

Speak to them. It might be what Sterophonically said, but if so it must be an amount that you can afford.

My cards have gone up each month as well due to this new minimum payment thingy. But only about £30 a month each. That is a big leap!

It always used to be a minimum of 5% of the bill
if you are paying off 2.5% of the balance each month and its a normal card then I reckon your debt is over £8000
so it will take you 32 years to clear the bill

Switch it to a standing order (as explained here)
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/1987219-SPREADSHEETS-for-Debt-Control-Budgeting-Mortgages-etc
and it drops to less than three years

Halifax did very similar to me the other year I think it went from 40 something to something like 140 wasnt great at the time. Does help pay off a little quicker though at least but yeah not great

That’s a massive amount on your credit card. Is it an option for you to apply for a new card with an interest free period for balance transfers?
That interest must be killing you each month you could get down much faster in you were able to move the money to another card

To be honest the balance isnt an issue as every few years i am able to clear it all. Making just the minimum suited me just fine but i feel thus is not a truly ‘helpful’ strategy for people who may becstruggling with debt and just before xmas too!!!!

do you really have around £7.5k outstanding on your credit card?

my calcs (could be wrong)
170 is 2.25% of £7.555.56
2.5% of £7.555.56 is £188.89

i dont know what your interest is?

TBH a credit card balance is just a number - as we have no idea about the OP's other finances.

Mine regularly goes up and over £4000 but I pay it off in full every month

@Hopefullyberidingsoon
If you know that your finances will be good for it at some stage, I would strongly suggest the standing order trick
as then you minimise the amount of profit the bank make

What rate of interest is your credit card?

If you can't transfer to a 0% card to repay (without spending on it!) could you ask your bank to convert it to a loan with a cheaper interest rate?

If not possible always pay the interest charged on the card aswell as the minimum repayment this will pay the compound interest (which is the interest on the interest)

plus pay something towards the capital (even if you can only manage a few pounds) this will bring the overall balance down even by £5 per month at least it's manageable and going in the right direction. Do not spend on the card (i physically cut mine up). Cleared £400 doing this.

Plus reclaimed some PPI and used the payout to clear another £1800

Keep chipping away at the elephant OP

sorry I mean if a loan is not possible then pay the credit card interest charged aswell as the minimum repayment and a few pounds towards the capital

If its gone up like that, you must be paying about £120 pm in interest and hardly 'not an issue' as its a massive amount of money to just go on nothing.

Why on earth are you borrowing on credit cards like this?

For those blinking into the light about their own credit cards,
PLEASE have a play with the calculator spreadsheet

it graphically shows the difference between paying the minimum
and whumping the debt

Credit Card and Loan/Mortgage sheets are here
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/1987219-SPREADSHEETS-for-Debt-Control-Budgeting-Mortgages-etc

Why on earth are you borrowing on credit cards like this?
Lots of assumptions being made by folks here.

For a high earner, who puts everything through their card, £8000 can pop up in a matter of months.

My card bill is never below £2500 a month
but I am in total control of it

@Talkinpeece

Thank you I have and they are very helpful would that I have a job with an income. Currently unemployed wish I'd never allowed myself to be pushed into taking the card. I have to manage on my low income for now. Definitely will use the spreadsheets once working again.

Talkinpeece

But you don't let the balance run on for years on end and pay thousands in interest and worry about the size of the minimum payment.

I also spend about £2k pm on credit cards and haven't paid a penny in interest in about 15 years. I haven't a clue what my minimum payments are because it's paid off in full every month.

Not the greatest just before xmas 😢

BH a credit card balance is just a number - as we have no idea about the OP's other finances.

For a high earner, who puts everything through their card, £8000 can pop up in a matter of months.

OP is not in that situation though is s/he? if they were, they would not have noticed really, they wouldnt have worried enough to post about it?? I could be wrong of course

Barbara
I last paid credit card interest ten years ago
but am in the habit of scrutinising my statement to the penny

• because I'm self employed
• because I write my spreadsheet and coordinate the debt threads

so I am VERY aware of how card rules have been altered in recent years to shaft borrowers