CREDIT BALANCE REFUND - I didn't know such a thing can be possible | Credit card reward programs | Discussion forum

I think all credit cards works same way. If you over pay your credit card bill, you can ask for refund if you like. Otherwise, the credit will go towards future expenses.

GICinvestor said
In the real real old days you could push for a cheque to clear out your credit balance. There must be some type of law that permits the user to ask for and receive a refund. Years ago my wife had a very small credit on her USA Macy’s card and at year end she automatically received a cheque. I don’t like the idea of giving them your banking information. Would it have been possible to do credit card cash withdrawals at an ATM to wind the credit down? I know my cards have that option but have absolutely noooo idea how do that.

Lol. Do they give you 18% interest on that amount if you leave it there?  

They give you no interest. Once I overpaid my credit card deliberately. I was going away for a while and would not have time to find my balance owing. When I returned I found they returned the surplus to my bank account. I found a rule that if balance is a credit they must return the credit to the customer automatically.

GICinvestor said
In the real real old days you could push for a cheque to clear out your credit balance. There must be some type of law that permits the user to ask for and receive a refund. Years ago my wife had a very small credit on her USA Macy’s card and at year end she automatically received a cheque. I don’t like the idea of giving them your banking information. Would it have been possible to do credit card cash withdrawals at an ATM to wind the credit down? I know my cards have that option but have absolutely noooo idea how do that.

Lol. Do they give you 18% interest on that amount if you leave it there?  

They would charge a fee for cash advance. At one time there was no cash advance fee. I used to get a cash advance at teller. Pay it back in short time. Say 1-2 weeks. Pay a small amount of interest for the short time frame. Once I took out a cash advance. I paid it back later the same day. There was a $3.00 fee for the cash advance.

What happens to the refund balance for lets say you close the credit card? Can you request a refund on a different card perhaps?

A different perspective on this issue, I sometimes deliberately add funds to my CC, since my CC and banking accounts are all with the same FI. This effectively increases the credit limit. This way I can purchase something beyond my credit limit or beyond the remaining limit.

American Express included a provision in a recent T&C update that lets them charge a FEE for unused credit balances over a certain period of time - a year, I think. Nervy, eh?

So it doesn't look like there's any statutory or policy need for them to return cash balances at any time.

The phone agent I queried about this at the time never convinced me I understood the policy or the need for it. Anyone know more?

I note that they now forbid advance payments on installment plans, which I'd never use anyway... any extra payments simply become credit balances unless the entire installment plan is revoked, in which case the interest advantage is lost.
RetirEd

ADDED: I just checked with them. The details are that:
-Once a year
-If there has been no activity on the account (charges or payments) for 12 months
-if there is a static credit balance

There will be a $10 deduction from that balance. If the balance is less than $10, the deduction will simply be the balance.

I tried AMEX Airmiles in 2001 after decades of using MC or VISA. I realized it was not accepted EVERYWHERE. I stopped using it for this reason. Nice to have just one CC to keep track of monthly expenses.

Years ago I tested several AMEX and CIBC cards. I collected Aeroplan points. I tested them if the annual fee was waived for 12 months. They gave huge number of bonus Aeroplan points just to signup. Not sure the details now. I got enough points to fly to Nashville (i.e. 25,000 points), Las Vegas (i.e. 25,000 points), Salt Lake City (i.e. do not remember) and London , England (i.e. 60,000 points). I never renewed any of the cards. Some of the cards I used to spend $2,000 to $5,000 to get the bonus points. Not sure the details now. Then cancel card. The CIBC Aeroplan Infinite card I used for a full year. I needed 60,000 points to fly to London. After that trip I cancelled since I realized 1 point for each $1 spent was not a good deal to pay $120 annual fee. A friend said I made good use of my points. I made these 4 flights over a period of 4 years. I did not spend $135,000 or so dollars to collect so many points. Currently have CIBC Platinum Visa. I think it was 10% for first $2,000 spend. Stopped using months ago. I will cancel after getting cashback on my December statement. Nothing wrong with CIBC no fee cards. None are worth a $99 annual fee IMHO. Having fun.

Winnie said
Capital One MC will automatically send you a cheque for any credit balance (overpayment, refunds, etc), if you will allow that credit balance to stay there for more than 1 billing statement.

They don't allow 2 consecutive statements with "minus" balances, regardless the amount.
A cheque will be mailed to you automatically and balance will be adjusted to "0" on the second statement, very simple and straight forward, no exceptions (I asked).  

Thank you for this response. I remember once paying them extra (i.e. $1,000). I was irritated when they sent me a check for hundreds of dollars. I wanted a negative balance since I was going to be away. I did not know how much I was going to spend. Now I have pre-authorized debit. Capital One is a very good FI for MC.