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 1-800-695-3988 (TDD/TTY: 1-800-695-1788).
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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I'd like to have a deferred-interest promotional plan. How do I get one?We're sorry. Deferred-interest promotional plans are not available upon request. You may, however, be offered a deferred-interest plan at checkout when making a specific type of purchase.
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Where can I find information on my deferred-interest promotional plan(s)?Promotional plan details, including deferred-interest plans, are listed on your monthly statement in the section called "Details of your plans." You also may refer to the full details of your deferred-interest promotional plan(s), which were given to you when you signed up for the plan(s).
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When I have a deferred-interest promotional plan, how is my Minimum Payment Due calculated?
Your Minimum Payment Due amount is the total of the required minimum payment on your account, including your deferred-interest promotional plan(s) balance(s) and your revolving (non-promotional plan) balance. For example, if you have a revolving balance and a deferred-interest promotional plan, and if the required minimum payment on your revolving balance is $75, and the required minimum payment on your deferred-interest plan is $25, then your Minimum Payment Due is $100.
Note: If you have more than one deferred-interest plan, each plan's minimum payment will be calculated separately. Then each calculated minimum payment will be applied to the corresponding plan as outlined above and in accordance with the details provided to you when you signed up for the plan(s).
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If I pay more than the Minimum Payment Due for my account, will it go toward paying down my deferred-interest promotional plan balance?
- If you have one or more deferred-interest promotional plans expiring in 60 days or less, the answer is yes. First we will apply your payment toward any minimum due on your revolving balance, and then on the minimum(s) due on your promotional plan(s). Any additional amount will then be applied to the deferred-interest plan that is due to expire soonest.
- If your promotional plan is not due to expire in 60 days or less, we will apply your payment to any minimum required on your revolving balance and the minimum(s) required on your promotional plan(s). Any additional amount will then be applied to whichever balance has the highest interest rate.
- To change how your payment is distributed among revolving and promotional plan balances, please make your payment online and follow up with a call to Customer Care at 1-800-695-3988 (TDD/TTY: 1-800-695-1788).
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If I don't pay off a deferred-interest promotional plan in full before the 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 plan balance on the plan expiration date. You can find these charges by looking at "Total Accrued Interest" in the "Details of your plans" section of your monthly statement
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 contact Customer Care via Secure Message Center or by calling 1-800-695-3988 (TDD/TTY: 1-800-695-1788).
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I made a purchase but it was put on my revolving balance and not on my deferred-interest promotional plan. Can it be fixed?
It's possible that your purchase was not eligible to be put on your deferred-interest promotional plan, so the transaction was posted to your revolving account instead. If that's not the case and you have questions about your purchase, please contact Customer Care via Secure Message Center or by calling 1-800-695-3988 (TDD/TTY: 1-800-695-1788).
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I have a deferred-interest promotional plan. How can I avoid paying interest on my revolving balance?
That depends on when the plan is set to expire.
- If your deferred-interest promotion plan expires in two or less billing cycles, pay both your expiring deferred-interest plan and your revolving balance in full. (Note: Any extra you pay beyond the required minimum for your revolving balance is applied to the expiring deferred-interest plan balance.)
- If your deferred-interest promotional plan expires in more than two billing cycles, pay the total revolving balance and the Minimum Payment Due found on your monthly statement. (Note: Doing this will mean that pay just a little more than the required minimum for your deferred-interest plan that month.)
Please be aware that if your deferred-interest promotional plan expiration date is after your Payment Due Date in any billing cycle, extra payments are applied to the expiring plan in the two previous billing cycles, as well as the expiring billing cycle
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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, on or before the payment due date, and you must pay it during the month in which your plan expires.
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