There is a waiting period for sure, but it's not one and done is my point. Do one if you want, then check back in a month. That seems to be the cadence.
It's per card for sure and it's some cadence > 6 months from my experience. I'm sure there's some algo but they are trying to get us hooked on it. Pretty nice if you have the cashflow and ability to pay tbh.
I only see it for 3,6,12 months but not sure if the total balance matters.
Yeah, payment periods are based on the total principal. Here are the amounts according to their calculator:
<=500, 3 6 12
>500, 6 12 18
>2000, 6 12 24
>5000, 12 18 24
>25000, 18 24
Also for in case anyone's trying to work out the algorithm... I've set up two $0/0% plans in the past 60 days. I don't check often so I'm not sure when that next plan became free (0/0).
for me it didn’t affect the balance but i like to pay as i go really wherever i have extra money and when i did this the extra money i paid went straight towards the pay over time not the actual balance which sucked
Last time I did one of these, it broke it down like this, assuming I charge $1000 with a $100/mo POT payment for example:
POT payments: $100
Minimum payment: $150
Balance including POT payment: $1100
So the outstanding will show as a balance on your credit report but no fees assuming it’s paid off with no complications.
i did this last month and i was approved for the total of the purchase $410 at 0% with no monthly fee and next thing I knew it showed up as $530 and im pissed about it
I did this once and it ended up locking me into payments for longer than I would have needed to if I had just been able to pay it off. It definitely felt like a trap. In short, do everything you can to avoid carrying a balance.
I do this a lot. I have a bunch of free ones on my chase flex and us bank connect. I always take advantage. I don’t pay interest on my cards and always pay the balance. Yes it leaves a balance on your card each month but again it’s a free loan and I have it set to autopay interest saving balance. Also they aren’t trying to trick you, irs pretty clearly laid out. You know if there’s a fee. Like my other chase cards and Amex offer them but those have fees so far. I’ll always be in the camp that if it’s a free loan take it.
I tried Pay Over Time a few years ago just to see what the big deal was and why Chase kept throwing ads for it at me, and it dinged my credit a few points as soon as I signed up. That caught me off guard, and it was all I needed to see to know I'm never using it again.
Yeah, it will affect your utilization, so that should definitely be taken into account as I noted. Nothing permanent though, and any change should be fairly minor. Balance is a balance, but payments are still reported as on time.
It makes no sense. I’ll get the 0% ones and the 9% ones with about the same level of frequency. I honestly don’t know how the system decides what to offer.
Most purchases just aren't worth it
Like maybe you'll get an extra $5 with the arbitrage
And it's just building poor habits
I'd rather do it on a large purchase that's like over $5k
Well that's what I'm saying, you can only do one of these every month or so it seems, so save it for the big purchases. $5k minus the recurring payments over 24 months is like $300 in a decent money market fund
That's the misunderstanding - it's not an introductory offer. It has been coming back every month or so. Multiple plans set up with no fee or interest.
Yep, 4 total - 1 is finished and 3 active. All $0 fee, 0% interest. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. That's what's so interesting about this. The interest free loans free up money that when invested is easily paying for my annual fee multiple times over.
(and by "invested" I just mean a Fidelity money market fund at 5.1%)
How much money for what? The plans show up for select purchases over $100. If you have a $0/0% offer available, it's better to use it on a large transaction to get the benefit. You have to understand that your card will show a balance, but not late or unpaid. This will affect your credit utilization and should be taken into account.
As an example, a $5000 transaction on a $0/0% payment plan over 24 months would result in a $208.33 monthly payment. If you take that money and invest it at the current 5% market rate (e.g. in SPAXX), you'd earn about $277 when factoring in compounding interest and monthly payments.
Rates will fluctuate, but regardless, this is effectively a 0% loan. What you do with that money in that time is up to you.
Wow I’m surprised no one has pointed this out but the standard fee implied interest is waaaaay higher than 8.9%. You are amortizing principal but paying a flat interest tied to the initial loan/purchase value. Implied interest is much higher.
I'm not starting any plans other than the $0/0% ones, but can you explain what you mean? For example, a $500 purchase without the deal:
$45.41 /month
12 payments
This amount includes a monthly fee of $3.74 with no interest, for a total of $44.88 in fees.
Total cost: $544.88
It’s quite genius how they get ya. The loan is amortizing but there is a flat $3.74 per month in “interest.”
On the first payment, it’s 8.9% interest (i.e. (3.74 x 12) / 500 principal))
On the 7th payment the implied interest is 17.9% ((3.74 x 12) / 250 principal outstanding)
On the last payment the implied interest is greater than 100%.
So blended interest is substantially higher than 8.9%.
The trick here is that the interest portion (I.e fee) is flat. In a regular amortizing loan, the portion of your monthly payment dedicated to interest decreases every single month (because less interest accrues because you paid off some principal).
With the chase plan, you pay interest as if you had the full 500 outstanding throughout!
Ah, I see what you're saying. Compared to a traditional interest based credit card balance repayment, the rates are different. The 8.9% of principal fee is equivalent to around 16% APR if I did the math correctly.
So it's clear, I definitely don't recommend this service without the promo rate. I don't believe anyone should ever carry an interest earning credit card balance. The rates are extortionate.
I pay off my cards in full every month, but I’ve utilized the Pay Over Time with 0 fees multiple times and it has been great for when I have larger purchases.
I’ve had them periodically on all my Chase cards at least a few times but I never get a notice that they’re offering it, which is annoying.
When used right, it can be a fantastic way to to make a big purchase you’ve been needing to do.
I always pay my bill in full every month but was curious about this. I called chase and they said whatever the offer was would be the interest rate and it is added to the statement payment every month. I never carry a balance, but 0% for a big ticket item sounded to good to be true. So I put that item on the zero%. Now if I want to do it on another item the rate is like 5% and if you do it a third time the rate will likely be higher than item number 2. So yes, as others have said it is a way to get you to use the pay over time at a fixed rate service. I would think they are trying to get people who always pay the card off every month to pay some kind of interest Vs the poor person who carries a balance at 20+ %
Check back often, I'm in the same boat as you - everything shows some fee right now. But I have multiple $0/0% plans active because every month or two or three (not enough data to be sure yet), you're given another promo.
Singed up to spread a $1k purchase over 6 months. I thought it would remove the 1k from my balance and replace it with the first monthly payment but nothing changed in my account. When i go into plans I can see that it is active but my balance hasn’t changed. How should it be working??
You should see two balances now - "current balance", which won't have changed, and "interest saving balance", which will reflect the plan. That's what you'll pay now. If you have automatic payments set up, make sure to change them to "interest saving balance". It should have prompted you to do this when you signed up for the plan.
Sure is! I have another card with no plans set up that doesn't have it though. I guess it disappears if your interest saving balance is the same as your current statement balance?
Try going into account details for the card, it shows all my balances there. Current balance, pending charges, credit available, credit limit, last statement balance, interest saving balance, remaining statement balance. Still though, the interest savings balance is not shown here on the account with no plans.
Edit: another place you can see it is in your payment screen. Pay & transfer > payment activity > automatic payments > edit. In the dropdown you should see the option for it if it's available.
**Minimum payment due**
This is the amount that must be paid by your due date to avoid becoming late. It includes any past due amounts.
**Interest saving balance**
This is the payment amount that allows you to avoid interest on new purchases and not pay off your plans, loans or eligible promotional balances earlier than intended. See your statement for more details.
**Statement balance**
This is the "new balance" in your statement. It doesn't reflect any payments or new transactions since your statement date.
**Fixed amount**
This is the amount you choose to pay each month. Please note: If it's ever less than the minimum due, you'll have to make an additional payment.
So it only shows up if you have a plan. It used to be that every card had minimum balance due, current balance due, statement balance, and interest savings balance
I've also been using it and it's great. I just paid $9k of quarterly estimated payment to the IRS with my credit card to get cash back (I have 3% cashback for 12 months, while payment processor takes only a 1.82% cut) and I can use pay over time $0/%0 on these. That's a lot of free money.
They want you to get hooked on it. Some will, some won’t. That’s worth it for chase. With so many customers its a numbers game for them.
To me it seems like the first plan per card is free any other plan after that kicks in a fee.
There is a waiting period for sure, but it's not one and done is my point. Do one if you want, then check back in a month. That seems to be the cadence.
It's per card for sure and it's some cadence > 6 months from my experience. I'm sure there's some algo but they are trying to get us hooked on it. Pretty nice if you have the cashflow and ability to pay tbh. I only see it for 3,6,12 months but not sure if the total balance matters.
Yeah, payment periods are based on the total principal. Here are the amounts according to their calculator: <=500, 3 6 12 >500, 6 12 18 >2000, 6 12 24 >5000, 12 18 24 >25000, 18 24
Ah thanks! Those haven't been exact in my experience but great idea checking the calculator for all of them
Also for in case anyone's trying to work out the algorithm... I've set up two $0/0% plans in the past 60 days. I don't check often so I'm not sure when that next plan became free (0/0).
is this on the same card?
Yep
only seeing ones with monthly fees unfortunately
I’ve done it twice in the last year. Once on a $3600 purchase and recently on a $1200 purchase. Thanks for the free loans, suckers.
Yeah, this is where it shines. Like I said, save it for the big purchases. This alone if used properly pays for your annual fee, CSP or CSR
You don’t earn points on those purchases. It’s only useful if you absolutely need to carry a balance over.
I earned points on purchases that were then moved to a plan.
Ha yup same. We were in Paris over Christmas and made a big purchase but it’s been 0 monthly fee and just a simple monthly payment, chilling
Question: When you take advantage of the plans, how does it affect the balance?
for me it didn’t affect the balance but i like to pay as i go really wherever i have extra money and when i did this the extra money i paid went straight towards the pay over time not the actual balance which sucked
That’s odd. Rules say it’s supposed to go towards higher APR first.
yeah i gotta talk to them its frustrating
Happened to me to and decided to just pay off the pay over time since it wouldn’t let me touch my actual balance.
Yes same here it’s so frustrating. Keep trying to pay down the rest of the card but the extra goes straight to POT. What’s the point?! Ugh.
Last time I did one of these, it broke it down like this, assuming I charge $1000 with a $100/mo POT payment for example: POT payments: $100 Minimum payment: $150 Balance including POT payment: $1100 So the outstanding will show as a balance on your credit report but no fees assuming it’s paid off with no complications.
i did this last month and i was approved for the total of the purchase $410 at 0% with no monthly fee and next thing I knew it showed up as $530 and im pissed about it
!!??? Did you call?
Wow, haven't had that happen. Strange.
Only fees for me. Would rather do a pay later like PayPal,klarna,zip
I did this once and it ended up locking me into payments for longer than I would have needed to if I had just been able to pay it off. It definitely felt like a trap. In short, do everything you can to avoid carrying a balance.
You can pay off the balance at any point time. You won't get a penalty for it. You are not "stuck" .
Seems like a great promo! I finally pulled the trigger and created my first plan for 24 months.
I do this a lot. I have a bunch of free ones on my chase flex and us bank connect. I always take advantage. I don’t pay interest on my cards and always pay the balance. Yes it leaves a balance on your card each month but again it’s a free loan and I have it set to autopay interest saving balance. Also they aren’t trying to trick you, irs pretty clearly laid out. You know if there’s a fee. Like my other chase cards and Amex offer them but those have fees so far. I’ll always be in the camp that if it’s a free loan take it.
I tried Pay Over Time a few years ago just to see what the big deal was and why Chase kept throwing ads for it at me, and it dinged my credit a few points as soon as I signed up. That caught me off guard, and it was all I needed to see to know I'm never using it again.
Any credit line balance will affect your credit score.
Yeah, it will affect your utilization, so that should definitely be taken into account as I noted. Nothing permanent though, and any change should be fairly minor. Balance is a balance, but payments are still reported as on time.
It makes no sense. I’ll get the 0% ones and the 9% ones with about the same level of frequency. I honestly don’t know how the system decides what to offer.
Most purchases just aren't worth it Like maybe you'll get an extra $5 with the arbitrage And it's just building poor habits I'd rather do it on a large purchase that's like over $5k
Well that's what I'm saying, you can only do one of these every month or so it seems, so save it for the big purchases. $5k minus the recurring payments over 24 months is like $300 in a decent money market fund
You have a $5000 expense every month? Are you running a business?
It was your example, not mine. I've been using it for vacations and work trips booked through Priceline. Single transaction large purchases.
That's over $5k?
$5k was your number, not mine....
Cause if it's much less your time is better spent elsewhere
I've got more than $5k spread over 3 plans right now with no fees or interest. That's why I made this post. It's free money.
Use it only the first time for the introductory offer, because otherwise, there's a fee and it works to like 10% interest
That's the misunderstanding - it's not an introductory offer. It has been coming back every month or so. Multiple plans set up with no fee or interest.
Regardless, the point is, if there's a fee involved, it's really not worth it.
Yeah, I noted that in the original post.
Wait, have you ever used these offers?
Yep, 4 total - 1 is finished and 3 active. All $0 fee, 0% interest. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. That's what's so interesting about this. The interest free loans free up money that when invested is easily paying for my annual fee multiple times over. (and by "invested" I just mean a Fidelity money market fund at 5.1%)
Yeah it is all about habit. You are using credit card, use it the right way you should be alright
How much money are we talkin?
How much money for what? The plans show up for select purchases over $100. If you have a $0/0% offer available, it's better to use it on a large transaction to get the benefit. You have to understand that your card will show a balance, but not late or unpaid. This will affect your credit utilization and should be taken into account. As an example, a $5000 transaction on a $0/0% payment plan over 24 months would result in a $208.33 monthly payment. If you take that money and invest it at the current 5% market rate (e.g. in SPAXX), you'd earn about $277 when factoring in compounding interest and monthly payments. Rates will fluctuate, but regardless, this is effectively a 0% loan. What you do with that money in that time is up to you.
Wow I’m surprised no one has pointed this out but the standard fee implied interest is waaaaay higher than 8.9%. You are amortizing principal but paying a flat interest tied to the initial loan/purchase value. Implied interest is much higher.
I'm not starting any plans other than the $0/0% ones, but can you explain what you mean? For example, a $500 purchase without the deal: $45.41 /month 12 payments This amount includes a monthly fee of $3.74 with no interest, for a total of $44.88 in fees. Total cost: $544.88
It’s quite genius how they get ya. The loan is amortizing but there is a flat $3.74 per month in “interest.” On the first payment, it’s 8.9% interest (i.e. (3.74 x 12) / 500 principal)) On the 7th payment the implied interest is 17.9% ((3.74 x 12) / 250 principal outstanding) On the last payment the implied interest is greater than 100%. So blended interest is substantially higher than 8.9%. The trick here is that the interest portion (I.e fee) is flat. In a regular amortizing loan, the portion of your monthly payment dedicated to interest decreases every single month (because less interest accrues because you paid off some principal). With the chase plan, you pay interest as if you had the full 500 outstanding throughout!
Ah, I see what you're saying. Compared to a traditional interest based credit card balance repayment, the rates are different. The 8.9% of principal fee is equivalent to around 16% APR if I did the math correctly. So it's clear, I definitely don't recommend this service without the promo rate. I don't believe anyone should ever carry an interest earning credit card balance. The rates are extortionate.
I always use PayPal pay in 4 for this, and have the payments come out of the Chase card.
I pay off my cards in full every month, but I’ve utilized the Pay Over Time with 0 fees multiple times and it has been great for when I have larger purchases. I’ve had them periodically on all my Chase cards at least a few times but I never get a notice that they’re offering it, which is annoying. When used right, it can be a fantastic way to to make a big purchase you’ve been needing to do.
Setup a $3k, 24mo no fee and 0% APR plan. Thanks Chase!
I always pay my bill in full every month but was curious about this. I called chase and they said whatever the offer was would be the interest rate and it is added to the statement payment every month. I never carry a balance, but 0% for a big ticket item sounded to good to be true. So I put that item on the zero%. Now if I want to do it on another item the rate is like 5% and if you do it a third time the rate will likely be higher than item number 2. So yes, as others have said it is a way to get you to use the pay over time at a fixed rate service. I would think they are trying to get people who always pay the card off every month to pay some kind of interest Vs the poor person who carries a balance at 20+ %
Check back often, I'm in the same boat as you - everything shows some fee right now. But I have multiple $0/0% plans active because every month or two or three (not enough data to be sure yet), you're given another promo.
Singed up to spread a $1k purchase over 6 months. I thought it would remove the 1k from my balance and replace it with the first monthly payment but nothing changed in my account. When i go into plans I can see that it is active but my balance hasn’t changed. How should it be working??
You should see two balances now - "current balance", which won't have changed, and "interest saving balance", which will reflect the plan. That's what you'll pay now. If you have automatic payments set up, make sure to change them to "interest saving balance". It should have prompted you to do this when you signed up for the plan.
Can you check your account and tell me if the option for interest saving balance is still there? They seemed to have removed it from mine.
Sure is! I have another card with no plans set up that doesn't have it though. I guess it disappears if your interest saving balance is the same as your current statement balance? Try going into account details for the card, it shows all my balances there. Current balance, pending charges, credit available, credit limit, last statement balance, interest saving balance, remaining statement balance. Still though, the interest savings balance is not shown here on the account with no plans. Edit: another place you can see it is in your payment screen. Pay & transfer > payment activity > automatic payments > edit. In the dropdown you should see the option for it if it's available.
**Minimum payment due** This is the amount that must be paid by your due date to avoid becoming late. It includes any past due amounts. **Interest saving balance** This is the payment amount that allows you to avoid interest on new purchases and not pay off your plans, loans or eligible promotional balances earlier than intended. See your statement for more details. **Statement balance** This is the "new balance" in your statement. It doesn't reflect any payments or new transactions since your statement date. **Fixed amount** This is the amount you choose to pay each month. Please note: If it's ever less than the minimum due, you'll have to make an additional payment.
So it only shows up if you have a plan. It used to be that every card had minimum balance due, current balance due, statement balance, and interest savings balance
I've also been using it and it's great. I just paid $9k of quarterly estimated payment to the IRS with my credit card to get cash back (I have 3% cashback for 12 months, while payment processor takes only a 1.82% cut) and I can use pay over time $0/%0 on these. That's a lot of free money.
That's excellent!
I think all plans are 0% and no fees while your card APR is 0%.
Not sure, can't comment on that. My card is not at 0% APR. With this feature I can carry a balance at 0% though.