What is a Deferred-Interest Promotional Plan?
A deferred-interest promotional plan is a special, limited-time financing plan that allows you to make a specific purchase. With this type of plan, you may pay for your purchase in full within the plan period, without paying interest.
If you choose not to pay off your purchase within the promotional plan period, you will be required (at the end of the plan) to pay all of the interest you would have incurred during the plan. Interest will be accrued on the original purchase amount.
You may be offered a deferred-interest plan at checkout on such purchases as:
- Furniture
- Jewelry
- Medical Services
Deferred-interest promotional plans allow you at least six months to pay.
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Understanding Deferred Interest Plans
You may have heard of deferred interest promotional plans, or have one yourself. We'll explain what a deferred interest plan is, the advantages of using deferred interest, and things to know as you manage your plan with your monthly statement.
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Managing a Single Deferred Interest Plan
If you have a single deferred interest promotional plan, it's important to stay informed of its progress. We'll show you how you can manage your plan with your monthly billing statements.
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Managing a Deferred Interest Plan With Other Purchases
Do you know the difference between a regular credit purchase and a deferred interest promotional plan purchase? We'll explain how each type of purchase is shown on your monthly billing statement.
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How Payments Are Applied to Deferred Interest Plans
In this video we will provide examples of how your payments will be applied to your regular credit card and promotional plan balances.
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What Happens at the End of a Deferred Interest Plan?
This video explains what happens at the end of your deferred interest promotional plan and how it transitions to your regular credit card balance.
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Deferred-Interest Plans & Your Monthly Statement
If you have a promotional plan, look for information about your balance, promotional plan expiration date, accrued interest and more in the "Details of your plans" section of your monthly billing statement. View Your Statements
How to Read "Details of your plans" on a Statement
Making Deferred-Interest Plan Payments
When you make a payment on your credit card account, your payment is applied to your total account balance, including your revolving account balance, deferred-interest promotional plan, and any other plans associated with your account. The amount applied to your revolving account and deferred-interest plan is based on your plan balance(s). When a deferred-interest plan is nearing its expiration date, and you pay more than the required minimum payment due, the additional amount is applied to the soon-to-be-expired plan
Note: To avoid paying total accrued interest charges, you must pay the balance of your deferred-interest plan(s) in full by each plan's expiration date.
Extra Deferred-Interest Plan Payments
To pay extra toward a deferred-interest promotional plan, please make your payment online and follow up with a call to Customer Care at 1-877-287-8879 (TDD/TTY: 1-888-819-1918).
Note: If your deferred-interest plan is expiring in 60 days or less, and you pay more than the required minimum payment due, the additional amount is applied to the soon-to-be-expired plan.
Deferred-Interest Promotional Plan FAQs
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How can I sign up for a promotional plan?We're sorry, but at this time promotional plans are not available by request. You may be offered a promotional plan at the time of a future purchase.
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Where can I find information about my promotional plans?
Information about your promotional plans can be found on the documents you received when you started your plan or on your monthly billing statement in the "Details of your plans" section.
You can access your billing statements from the previous 24 months online by visiting the Transactions and Statements page.
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How is the minimum payment due calculated for my deferred-interest promotional plan?
Your minimum payment due is the total required minimum payment on your account and includes any deferred-interest promotional plan balances as well as any revolving, non-promotional plan balances.
Here is an example of how a total minimum payment due could be calculated for an account that has both a revolving balance and a deferred-interest promotional plan balance:
Revolving balance required minimum payment: $75Deferred-interest promotional plan required minimum payment: $25Total minimum payment due: $100If your Smile Generation Financial Credit Card account has more than one deferred-interest promotional plan, each plan's minimum payment will be calculated separately and the required minimum payment will be applied to the corresponding plan as outlined in the example.
Please note, paying only the minimum payment due for your deferred-interest promotional plans may not pay off the balance by the end of the promotional plan period.
Please refer to your promotional plan details for more information.
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If I pay more than the minimum payment due will the extra amount be applied to my deferred-interest promotional plan balance?
When you pay more than your minimum payment due, the extra amount will be applied to your account in different ways depending on when your deferred-interest promotional plan expires:
- One deferred-interest promotional plan expiring in less than 60 days: Any payment amount more than your minimum payment due will be applied to your deferred-interest promotional plan if its expiration date occurs in less than 60 days.
- Multiple deferred-interest promotional plans expiring in less than 60 days: If you have more than one deferred-interest promotional plan expiring within 60 days, any extra payment amount will be applied to the deferred-interest promotional plan with the earlier expiration date.
- Deferred-interest promotional plans expiring in more than 60 days: If your deferred-interest promotional plan expires in more than 60 days, your payment will first be applied to the required minimum payment of your revolving balance and deferred-interest promotional plan, then the rest of your payment will be applied to whichever balance has the highest interest rate.
If you would like to change the way additional payment amounts are distributed between revolving balances and promotional plan balances, please submit your payment online first and follow up with a phone call to Customer Care at 1-877-287-8879 (TDD/TTY: 1-888-819-1918).
Please note that your credit card's regular payment due date may be different than your promotional plan's expiration date.
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If I don't pay off a deferred-interest promotional plan before its expiration date, how much will I have to pay in finance charges?
After a deferred-interest promotional plan expires, you will be charged the accrued interest from the date of purchase based on your original purchase amount. Please note that this is not the same as the balance on your deferred-interest promotional plan at the time of the plan's expiration date. It's also important to keep in mind that your credit card's regular payment due date may be different than your promotional plan's expiration date.
For information about the accrued interest on your deferred-interest promotional plan, refer to the "Details of your plans" section of your billing statement.
To access your billing statements from the previous 24 months, visit the Transactions and Statements page.
If your deferred-interest promotional plan has expired and you are having trouble making your monthly payments, we may be able to help. To determine if you qualify for one of our programs, please send us a message through Secure Message Center or call Customer Care at 1-877-287-8879 (TDD/TTY: 1-888-819-1918).
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Why was my recent purchase added to my revolving balance instead of being put on a promotional plan?
We're sorry, but not all purchases are eligible for promotional plans.
If you believe your recent purchase was added to your revolving balance in error, please send us a secure message through Secure Message Center or call Customer Care at 1-877-287-8879 (TDD/TTY: 1-888-819-1918).
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How can I avoid paying interest on my revolving balance when I have a promotional plan?
The way to avoid paying interest on your revolving balance when you have a promotional plan varies depending on when your promotional plan expires:
- If your promotional plan expires in two billing cycles or less: To avoid paying interest, pay both your expiring promotional plan and your revolving balance in full. Please note, any amount you pay above your minimum payment due for your revolving balance is applied to your expiring promotional plan balance.
- If your promotional plan expires in more than two billing cycles: To avoid paying interest, pay the total revolving balance plus the minimum payment due for your promotional plan.
The expiration date for your promotional plan can be found on your billing statement in the "Details of your plans" section. Please note your credit card's regular payment due date may be different than your promotional plan's expiration date.
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How can I avoid paying accrued interest charges on my deferred-interest promotional plan?
To prevent paying the accrued interest charges on your deferred-interest promotional plan, you must pay the total plan balance in full before the promotional plan expiration date. Promotional plan details, including deferred-interest plans, are listed on your monthly statement in the section called "Details of your plans." You will also see alerts on the first page of your statement letting you know the remaining balances on your plans and the date they need to be paid in full to avoid paying accrued interest. These messages appear in red during the last 3 months of your promotional plan.
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