Chase Class Action Challenges Credit Card Interest

Chase Bank faces a class action lawsuit claiming that the financial institution charges credit card interest in ways that violate consumer agreements.

According to plaintiff Kira Young, Chase deceives customers by charging interest on credit card purchases made during an agreed upon grace period – even if these consumers pay off their balance before their payment is due.

Young argues that this interest practice violates customer agreements and language found on billing statements.

Both of these documents reportedly assure customers that they will not be charged interest on purchases if they pay off those purchases before their statement’s monthly due date.

Despite these assurances, the bank allegedly charges interest fees deceptively.

“Indeed, when a consumer has not paid off her statement balance in full, Chase charges interest on all new purchases from the moment they are made, with no grace period, simply because other, prior purchases were not paid off in full,” the Chase class action lawsuit states. “No reasonable consumer would expect this to be so and nowhere is the counterintuitive practice disclosed by Chase.”

Young allegedly experienced this issue in the 13 years that she has been a Chase cardholder. In January 2019, Young reportedly made a $56.67 purchase with her Chase credit card. Despite paying this purchase off six days before her statement was due, Young says she was charged interest on the purchase.

Other consumers have reportedly experienced the same issue. In Young’s class action, she includes nearly 10 full pages of complaints made by other Chase customers to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

In these complaints, consumers take issue with the bank’s interest charging policies and terms that take advantage of cardholders.

Many of the consumers also claim that accidental underpayment led to Chase eliminating their interest grace period, although this policy was allegedly not warned about in cardholder agreements.

Young compares Chase’s practices to other competing banks including Citibank and Bank of America. While these banks reportedly make their policies clear in customer agreements, Chase allegedly conceals their true practices in order to take advantage of consumers.

“Chase, on the other hand, obscures the grace period mechanism for new purchases behind, at best, confusing disclosures that nowhere clearly state that consumers lose the grace period on all future transactions merely because of a prior unpaid balance,” Young claims in her Chase credit card class action.

Young seeks to represent a Class of all Chase Bank credit card customers who were improperly charged interest in violation of their cardholder agreements.

The Chase credit card class action lawsuit seeks restitution, actual damages, punitive damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

Plaintiffs and the proposed Class are represented by P. Bradford deLeeuw of Rosenthal Monhait & Goddess PA; Nicholas A. Migliaccio and Jason S. Rathod of Migliaccio & Rathod LLP; and Jeffrey Kaliel and Sophia Gold of Kaliel PLLC.

The Chase Credit Card Interest Class Action Lawsuit is Kira Young, et al. v. Chase Bank USA NA, et al., Case No. 1:19­-cv­-01026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

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