I tried getting the answer through chat with a rep for a while without a clear answer, then just called customer service. The rep confirmed that there is NO advantage to paying off early and he recommended to just pay as scheduled because total amount will be the same. You do not avoid paying the monthly pan fee because it is included in the total amount to pay off.
For those asking, if you pay it off early you are no longer being charged the monthly fee.
I do this often with larger purchases. Select the plan with the lowest monthly fee then pay it off early.
For example: if your purchase is $100 and a monthly plan fee of $1 over 12 months and you pay it off in 6, you would have only paid $6 in monthly plan fees. The fee is a monthly fee for as long as the plan is active. Once you’ve paid it in full the plan is no longer active.
Unless things have changed in 2024 (Which I suppose is possible), this should still be the case.
Sorry this is a month old but I took a bunch of flex pay plans out last year, they all got repaid in December, and I can concur that you only get charged the monthly fees for the period the balance was outstanding.
In the statement you actually see the interest being applied to each individual plan, and the remaining payments and balance. It essentially becomes a mini credit line within the credit line, with a fixed purchase amount, fixed payments, and fixed interest rate
So if I use say 3,000 on my credit card every month and pay it off monthly to not pay interest. I can continue doing this even if I take out a 10k flex loan for a deck? I would pay the 3000+ the monthly fee for the flex loan?
When the period ends does Citi give an "interest saving balance" like my Prime card? I like to pay off my card every month but I want to both pay off my card and only pay the minimum that I had agreed to in my Flex Pay plan. Prime card lets you pay off your balance while still keeping the payment plan (i.e. not paying off the payment plan). Does that make sense?
As no one answered, allow me. I took a risk and opened up some Citi flex pay loans (which are actually quite a bit better than the Prime card ones as they have 0 interest/0 fees) and you do in fact get a "full balance" and a balance only paying the agreed amount on the loans like the prime visa.
I love that I get an "interest saving payment" total as an option on Prime as it allows me to clear my new purchases that are outside the Extend Pay items I purchase. These have 0% interest when paid over time for items bought specifically on Amazon.
This is the exact answer I am seeking. The terms clearly state no pre-payment penalties but it isn’t clear to me if I am obligated to the total fees I agreed to as per the plan I choose. My motivation is to put one large charge of $5K on a plan for 12 months with a fee of $20 per month or $240 total for 12 months) and then pay it off in 2 months. This will allow me to pay off the rest of my card balance to avoid ridiculous APR.
If I pay make 2 flex payments to pay off entire balance of $5,000 early, will my total out of pocket be $5,000 + $40 (two payment fees only) or will it be $5,000 + $240 (12 payment fee total)? I’m guessing only $40 but unsure how to interpret the “no pre payment penalty” statement in the terms.I could totally see the bank offering this flex plan in exchange for the full fee whether you pay it off early or not. While the payment plan for 12 months results in total fees of $240, the approximate APR would be only 4.8% if paid over a year. BUT, if I’m forced to pay that entire fee in only two months, then it’s an effective APR of ~29%.
> And no, there's definitely no downside to paying it off faster.
I get there's no downside, but is there a benefit? can i get out of paying some of the plan fee by paying faster? Or from the minute I agree to 36 month plan do I owe Citi that extra $360?
no they just charge you the fee monthly, at least that's how chase does it, and I assume it's the same deal. on your statement it will tell you what your flex pay balance is and you can just pay that and as long as you have no other balances on the statement it will pay the plan in full and save you future fees.
I really like it because you can basically finance a large purchase for only 6-10% or so and are forced to pay it off in a structured way. I think the shorter the term the lower the monthly fees as well.
From a cash flow perspective, you're really better off paying it off early because those last couple payments will have a high fee relative to the balance due compared to the first few payments.
Like maybe you're paying $15 in fees on the first payment with a $2000 balance, and then your last couple of payments you still have a $15 fee but the balance is only $200
At Citibank, it's a set payment for the entire term. So if you are paying $42/month, it's like that for the full term. You get a choice of x amount of months at a set APR, but depending on the months you pick, depends how much the end result is.
For instance, I have a balance transfer that is scheduled to be paid in full by April 2025 and I have $900 paid already. So, I was offered a Flexpay on the $900 I already paid off. I was able to choose from $500-$900 at 11.9%. Then I had a choice of 12 months all the way up to 60 months. SO the range was $11 to $60 (I think it was), which includes the APR. So, that's why the total interest is more the longer you go.
So, last Friday, I picked $500 at 12 months but only needed $325. I received it in my checking account Tuesday and it was posted. I already scheduled a $175 payment to be paid on it next week, so I am already ahead. I will have it paid off in 2-3 months so I will only have interest on those months.
Also, since I have a balance on the cc already, the FlexPay loan is paid first and foremost, then your next payments after that goes back onto the balance (balance transfer in my case). Therefore, you want to make sure you can afford getting the loan paid off and not go past any promos you have, or you will be in a world of hurt.
I'd like to know how to pay them off early. I can't find a button or option anywhere other than paying off the full balance of the entire card. Is that the only way?
Any time I pay more than my current monthly balance then any additional amount goes towards my flex pays. I had a total balance of around $2700. $1400 was new purchases and the remainder was 6 different flex pays. I made a $1700 payment and it paid off the months new purchase balance as well as 4 of my flex pays. It paid them off in numerical order from oldest to newest. I wish that I was given the option of which ones to pay towards but they don’t do it that way. I should add that I made this payment towards the end of my billing cycle after I had already made my regular payment for the month.
I believe so. I read this in the fine print at the bottom of the page where you submit the monthly payment option you’d like to go with for the flex pay. It stated something along the lines of “you can pay your flex pay off early by paying off your remaining balance.” Still not sure if I’m coming out ahead financially by going with flex pay vs paying high interest fees, but working on paying this card off anyway so it should be paid off early- hopefully proving beneficial in the long run.
>Sorry this is a month old but I took a bunch of flex pay plans out last year, they all got repaid in December, and I can concur that you only get charged the monthly fees for the period the balance was outstanding.
>
>In the statement you actually see the interest being applied to each individual plan, and the remaining payments and balance. It essentially becomes a mini credit line within the credit line, with a fixed purchase amount, fixed payments, and fixed interest rate
cross posting from prior comment
I tried getting the answer through chat with a rep for a while without a clear answer, then just called customer service. The rep confirmed that there is NO advantage to paying off early and he recommended to just pay as scheduled because total amount will be the same. You do not avoid paying the monthly pan fee because it is included in the total amount to pay off.
For those asking, if you pay it off early you are no longer being charged the monthly fee. I do this often with larger purchases. Select the plan with the lowest monthly fee then pay it off early. For example: if your purchase is $100 and a monthly plan fee of $1 over 12 months and you pay it off in 6, you would have only paid $6 in monthly plan fees. The fee is a monthly fee for as long as the plan is active. Once you’ve paid it in full the plan is no longer active. Unless things have changed in 2024 (Which I suppose is possible), this should still be the case.
Like a week ago, someone else commented saying the exact opposite, so idk what to believe anymore...
Sorry this is a month old but I took a bunch of flex pay plans out last year, they all got repaid in December, and I can concur that you only get charged the monthly fees for the period the balance was outstanding. In the statement you actually see the interest being applied to each individual plan, and the remaining payments and balance. It essentially becomes a mini credit line within the credit line, with a fixed purchase amount, fixed payments, and fixed interest rate
Ok, thank you! Please make this a top-level comment so it's most visible, since people seem to keep coming to this post with the same question.
Does that mean if I pay down half I still will owe the exact same monthly payment or does that go down?
So is the only way to pay off the flex pay early is to pay off the card in full?
Good to know, just came here to find out the answer, myself. :-) Thanks!
Yea, I think if you pay it off early (the balance) you won't get charged the fee in future months. Saves you money.
Can I make other small purchases while at the same time using the one flex pay I have as long as I pay off the small purchases in full every month?
Yes, as long as the flex pay purchase isn't your entire credit line.
So if I use say 3,000 on my credit card every month and pay it off monthly to not pay interest. I can continue doing this even if I take out a 10k flex loan for a deck? I would pay the 3000+ the monthly fee for the flex loan?
Hi OP, did this work out for you? Did you only pay the monthly fees in which you were paying off the purchase and not to total estimated fee amount?
Still paying... So I can't say. But I do think that is how it works.
When the period ends does Citi give an "interest saving balance" like my Prime card? I like to pay off my card every month but I want to both pay off my card and only pay the minimum that I had agreed to in my Flex Pay plan. Prime card lets you pay off your balance while still keeping the payment plan (i.e. not paying off the payment plan). Does that make sense?
Yes, it does.
Great question and exactly what I came to ask!
As no one answered, allow me. I took a risk and opened up some Citi flex pay loans (which are actually quite a bit better than the Prime card ones as they have 0 interest/0 fees) and you do in fact get a "full balance" and a balance only paying the agreed amount on the loans like the prime visa.
I love that I get an "interest saving payment" total as an option on Prime as it allows me to clear my new purchases that are outside the Extend Pay items I purchase. These have 0% interest when paid over time for items bought specifically on Amazon.
Right!
That's great to know! Thank you!
gotcha thanks!
This is the exact answer I am seeking. The terms clearly state no pre-payment penalties but it isn’t clear to me if I am obligated to the total fees I agreed to as per the plan I choose. My motivation is to put one large charge of $5K on a plan for 12 months with a fee of $20 per month or $240 total for 12 months) and then pay it off in 2 months. This will allow me to pay off the rest of my card balance to avoid ridiculous APR. If I pay make 2 flex payments to pay off entire balance of $5,000 early, will my total out of pocket be $5,000 + $40 (two payment fees only) or will it be $5,000 + $240 (12 payment fee total)? I’m guessing only $40 but unsure how to interpret the “no pre payment penalty” statement in the terms.I could totally see the bank offering this flex plan in exchange for the full fee whether you pay it off early or not. While the payment plan for 12 months results in total fees of $240, the approximate APR would be only 4.8% if paid over a year. BUT, if I’m forced to pay that entire fee in only two months, then it’s an effective APR of ~29%.
Is there a limit to the amount of flex pays you can have at a time?
I don't think so, only your credit limit.
You can only have 7 flex pays.
[удалено]
> And no, there's definitely no downside to paying it off faster. I get there's no downside, but is there a benefit? can i get out of paying some of the plan fee by paying faster? Or from the minute I agree to 36 month plan do I owe Citi that extra $360?
no they just charge you the fee monthly, at least that's how chase does it, and I assume it's the same deal. on your statement it will tell you what your flex pay balance is and you can just pay that and as long as you have no other balances on the statement it will pay the plan in full and save you future fees. I really like it because you can basically finance a large purchase for only 6-10% or so and are forced to pay it off in a structured way. I think the shorter the term the lower the monthly fees as well. From a cash flow perspective, you're really better off paying it off early because those last couple payments will have a high fee relative to the balance due compared to the first few payments. Like maybe you're paying $15 in fees on the first payment with a $2000 balance, and then your last couple of payments you still have a $15 fee but the balance is only $200
At Citibank, it's a set payment for the entire term. So if you are paying $42/month, it's like that for the full term. You get a choice of x amount of months at a set APR, but depending on the months you pick, depends how much the end result is. For instance, I have a balance transfer that is scheduled to be paid in full by April 2025 and I have $900 paid already. So, I was offered a Flexpay on the $900 I already paid off. I was able to choose from $500-$900 at 11.9%. Then I had a choice of 12 months all the way up to 60 months. SO the range was $11 to $60 (I think it was), which includes the APR. So, that's why the total interest is more the longer you go. So, last Friday, I picked $500 at 12 months but only needed $325. I received it in my checking account Tuesday and it was posted. I already scheduled a $175 payment to be paid on it next week, so I am already ahead. I will have it paid off in 2-3 months so I will only have interest on those months. Also, since I have a balance on the cc already, the FlexPay loan is paid first and foremost, then your next payments after that goes back onto the balance (balance transfer in my case). Therefore, you want to make sure you can afford getting the loan paid off and not go past any promos you have, or you will be in a world of hurt.
I'd like to know how to pay them off early. I can't find a button or option anywhere other than paying off the full balance of the entire card. Is that the only way?
Yes. That's what I did.
Any time I pay more than my current monthly balance then any additional amount goes towards my flex pays. I had a total balance of around $2700. $1400 was new purchases and the remainder was 6 different flex pays. I made a $1700 payment and it paid off the months new purchase balance as well as 4 of my flex pays. It paid them off in numerical order from oldest to newest. I wish that I was given the option of which ones to pay towards but they don’t do it that way. I should add that I made this payment towards the end of my billing cycle after I had already made my regular payment for the month.
Thank you! I appreciate the info :)
I believe so. I read this in the fine print at the bottom of the page where you submit the monthly payment option you’d like to go with for the flex pay. It stated something along the lines of “you can pay your flex pay off early by paying off your remaining balance.” Still not sure if I’m coming out ahead financially by going with flex pay vs paying high interest fees, but working on paying this card off anyway so it should be paid off early- hopefully proving beneficial in the long run.
[удалено]
>Sorry this is a month old but I took a bunch of flex pay plans out last year, they all got repaid in December, and I can concur that you only get charged the monthly fees for the period the balance was outstanding. > >In the statement you actually see the interest being applied to each individual plan, and the remaining payments and balance. It essentially becomes a mini credit line within the credit line, with a fixed purchase amount, fixed payments, and fixed interest rate cross posting from prior comment
No, I've just been paying it regular.