Trailing interest

[Befuddledisnothard]

More of an FYI for people really, as I'd never heard of this.

Had a capital one credit card for about 18 months to help me out of a hole. I worked hard and was able to pay it off last month.

I've called them as I noted they sent me a statement to advise I owed some interest. In thought as I'd paid it off the day it was due, it was an error on their behalf. And that teh system hadn't caught up.

But I've just been told it is trailing interest and I will be due to pay it for this month and next month.

So just to clarify, my balance for transactions is zero, but for two months following that I am due to pay interest.

I am sure it is in the small print, but goodness me, it was not something I was aware of. I've had cards in the past, but probably not for ten years before I took this one out. I never knew of trailing interest.

You'd only have no interest if you paid the balance off in full each month

Yes, once you fail to pay the bill off in full, interest is charged from the day you u make the purchases.
Which means that even if you pay the next bill off in full, there is still interest building up between the statement date and when you pay it.

So the rule is that if you don't pay the bill in full, there will be an amount of interest charged on the next two bills before you get to a zero balance.

Is this the same with most credit cards? Is it something new, do you know?

No it won't be a new thing. Your statement is produced and the due date will be maybe 14 days later. Interest will still be charged between the statement date and the date the payment is made. The only way to not have that interest charged is to pay it off in full every month