Card confusion

When Brian Samuel from Cambridgeshire received his Lloyds TSB Gold Card statement this month, he got what he thought was a pleasant surprise.

He'd been chosen as one of a lucky group of card holders entitled to a repayment holiday.

But is wasn't long before he realised that all that's gold doesn't necessarily glitter.

Repayment date

Brian studied his statement and it certainly did looked as though no payment was due.

But surprisingly there was not even a date by when any payment should be received if you wanted to ignore the holiday entitlement.

"On closer examination of the offer I suddenly realised what was going to happen," explains Brian.

"By not making a payment on my credit card this month it would mean that any purchases that I made subsequently in the next month would incur interest payments on them immediately."

He also pointed out to Working Lunch that as next month is December, it's a time when many people use their credit cards heavily.

Interest

Brian wasn't alone in contacting us on this matter.

David Garritt also noticed the lack of payment date.

So how do you know when to make your payment without getting charged interest?

In the bank's terms and conditions it states that "your statement shows the payment date". But in this case it clearly didn't.

Apology

Lloyds TSB admits that it was at fault in leaving the payment date off the statements.

"We've made a mistake" says Mark Austin, head of Lloyds TSB's card programme team.

We've made a mistake

Mark Austin, Lloyds TSB

The bank claims that the error stems from recent changes to its statement format.

It also admits that it's had 60 calls from card holders on this matter in the last few days.

So what about those customer who haven't realised they will still be charged interest?

"We are going to have a look at this in terms of refunding interest where it's appropriate," says Mark.

Lloyds TSB also stresses that all other details on the statements in question are correct and in future statements will go out with dates on.