Hi,

I think you've got it - the number of days in the month is why.

This (normally) happens because interest is calculated based on x% per day. I'd be fairly confident that any billing period that includes a 31 day month will be higher than the previous 30 day month.

Card companies changed the way they bill around 4-5 years ago and it seems to be common practice.

I reckon they charge the same daily rate of interest in a leap year as a normal year so they are coining in one extra day worth of interest every 4 years, not enough to be individually bothered about but a nice little earner for the bank!

Hope that helps.

Hi all,

I had an Egg/Barclaycard card that i closed due to impending interest rate hikes. We agreed that i would stay on the same interest rate until balance was cleared. No problem. However, i've noticed that on my statements, although the balance is coming down, the interest applied can vary from month to month by about £12.

This obviously means my minimum payment is changing by same amount (1% plus interest applied). What i dont understand is how the interest applied can go up when the balance comes down and the interest rate stays constant? I would've thought that as the balance comes down the interest and minimum payment comes down?

March Statement had initial balance of £5933.42, made payment of £138.04 and interest applied was £73.78 giving a closing balance of 5869.16.

April Statement had opening balance of £5869.16, minimum payment required is £142.82 and estimated interest of £85.4

Monthly interest rate is 1.313%

I assume there is a simple explanation for this but i cant work it out!! Number of days in the month??

THanks for any help!