Features of each type of Sam’s Club Credit Cards

How To Pay

Additional Benefits of Sams Club Credit Cards

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Features of each type of Sam’s Club Credit Cards

2) How are Sam’s Club Credit Card payments calculated

The method “Daily Balance” is used to calculate the daily balance and with it the finance charge owed to the company each billing cycle. It is applied every day to each different balance in the owner’s account. This method requires calculating the daily balance and then the interest charge for each day of the billing cycle. This is done in the following steps:

1)            Calculating the daily balance: Daily Balance = The Balance in the beginning of the day + New charges and fees for that day – any payments and credit.

It is important to know that any daily balance which is less than $0 will be treated as 0.

2)            Calculating the daily rate: The Daily rate = APR/365, where APR = Prime rate + 19.74%

3)            Calculating the interest charge: Interest Charge = Daily Balance * Daily rate.

4)            Calculating the balance for the next day: Balance at the beginning of the day = Daily Balance for the previous day + Interest Charge on it.

5)            Calculating the interest charge for the billing cycle: Interest charge for the billing cycle = ? (Interest charges for every day).

No purchases will be included if the balance from the previous day is paid in full or is $0. If there is no previous balance or it has been paid in full any new purchases for that billing cycle will start to accrue a finance charge on the first day of the next billing cycle. If there’s a previous balance (that includes any balance of purchases made under a special payment plan) and the sum of all credits and payment is not at least equal to the previous balance and the other related charges, the purchases will begin to accrue finance charge later of the date of the transaction or on the first day of the next billing cycle.

This rule applies only to balances of purchases, for the balance transfer balances and cash advance balances the new purchases begin to accrue a finance charge later of the date of the transaction. There is no period in which one can avoid finance charge on these balances.

Since the annual percentage rate for these credit cards is dependant on the prime rate stated in The Wall Street Journal and it is a variable, it is essential to be noted that if the prime rate increases then the APR will increase too, and with it, the total minimum payment and the number of payments it will take to pay off the debt. GE Money Bank states that changes in prime rate will take effect on the first day of the billing cycle after the change is published. Any change in the APR will apply to all account balances.

The method of “Average Balance” is used when calculating the payments of Business Credit Cards in Puerto Rico. This is a fairly straightforward method using some steps:

1)    Calculating the Daily Balance: Daily Balance = the balance from the previous day + unpaid finance charges + new purchases and other charges – any payments or credits.

2)    Calculating the average balance: The Average Balance

3)    Calculating the periodic monthly rate =

4)    Calculating the finance charge: The Finance Charge  = Average Balance * Periodic Monthly Rate

Another step is calculating the total minimum payment required. The calculation method, here, depends on the type of credit card:

• For Sam’s Club Discover Business Credit Card and Sam’s Club Business Credit Card: The total minimal payment (TMP) is equal to $50 or 1/24 of the New Balance. If a cardholder is charged with a late payment fee and he/she pays the TMP every month for 4 billing cycles but the payments are not at least equal to the sum of the finance charges billed on the statement each month + 1% of the new balance each month + the late payment fee for the billing period in which the late fee was applied, his/hers total minimal payment will be calculated using this formula : TMP = $50 or 1/24 of the new balance + finance charges + late payment fees.

• For Sam’s Club Advantage Member Credit Card and Sam’s Club Discover Earn Cash Credit Card : TMP for these customer credit cards is $25 or the sum of 1/26 of the New Balance, any past due amounts and any payments on specific promotional plans. If charged with a late payment fee for the next 4 months if the cardholder pays the total minimum payment and it should be greater than the interest billed each month plus 1% of the new balance + the late payment fee. If it is not at least equal to that sum, then the total minimum payment will be either $25 or the sum of 1/26 of the New Balance, any past due amounts and any payments on specific promotional plans or the sum of 1% of the new balance plus any interest and late payment fee plus any past due amounts and payments on specific promotional plans.

Types of penalty fees:

v  Late payment fee: Late payment fee is due when the cardholder fails to pay at least the total minimum payment by 5 pm ET on the due date of his/hers billing cycle. An amount exceeding the TMP can be paid at any time.  Any payments received after 5 pm ET will be processed and credited as of the next day. For customers owning one of the Sam’s Club Customer Credit Cards the penalty fee for late payment is $25. If during the next six billing cycles the cardholder has an additional past due payment, the late fee will be $35. For clients with Sam’s Club Business Credit Cards the penalty fee is dependant on their balance, as shown below:

NEW BALANCE                           LATE FEE

Less than $25.00                             $0

$25.00 to $99.99                         $15.99

$100 to $249.99                          $29.99

$250 and more                           $39.99

v  Returned Check fee: This kind of fee is required from clients of Sam’s Club Business Credit Cards only. It is $15.00 on balances under $100.00 and $38.00 on balances of $100.00 and higher ($0 in Puerto Rico). This fee is due when a check or other kind of instrument is not processed and has to be returned.

v  Transaction fees: Transaction fees are collected from owners of Sam’s Club Discover credit cards only. They include fees for balance transfers, cash advances and foreign transactions. These fees are shown below:

• A Balance Transfer fee – applied every time the cardholder makes a balance transfer.  The fee is $5 or 3% of the amount for each transfer (whichever is greater);
• A Cash Advance fee – fee for each type of cash advance. This fee is added to the normal fee the cardholder will be charged with by the ATM. The Cash Advance fee is either $5 or 3% of the amount, whichever is greater.
• Fee for foreign transactions – a fee charged with every foreign transaction: 3% of the amount for each transaction.

• Post at address:

§  Sam’s Club Credit Member Service

§  P.O Box 981064

§  El Paso, TX 79998-1064

• Phone: (800) 203-5764 for owners of business credit cards or (800) 964-1917 for customer credit cards.
• In case of lost or stolen Sam’s Club Credit Card, immediately inform the company at 1-866-964-1917.

Special Promotional financing offers

At times, special financing promotions are offered when cardholders use their credit cards for certain transactions (“special promotions”).

Below are some of the usual special promotions that Sam’s Club offers. For each promotion, if the promotional balance is not paid in full within the promotional period, interest charge will be applied from the date of purchase at the APR that corresponds to the card owner’s account when the promotional purchase is made. At the time the account is opened, this is a variable APR of 14.90% for Account Type 1 and 22.90% for Account Type 2.

These special promotions work like this: When a client makes a purchase under one of these promotions, no interest will be assessed on the purchase if the promotional balance is paid in full within the applicable promotional period. The promotional balance consists of the promotional goods amount, and any interrelated voluntary credit insurance/debt cessation charges. If the cardholder fails to pay, interest will be assessed on the promotional balance from the date of the purchase. Monthly payments are required as a minimum. After the promotion expires any promotional balance will be treated under regular terms of the account. The company has a right to terminate or refuse participation in any special promotion if any payment due on the account is late more than 60 days.

Calculation of payments, other charges and types

Sam’s Club Advantage Member Credit Card:

This is a customer credit card which offers annual percentage rate (APR) for purchases equal to the sum of the prime rate and 19.65%. The minimal interest charge of this card is $2 and the due date is 23 days after closing of each billing cycle.

Sam’s Club Discover Earn Cash Credit Card:

This customer card is has two types assigned on the basis of the applicant’s creditworthiness. For type 1 the APR for purchases is the sum of the prime rate and 11.65% and for type 2 the APR is equal to the prime rate plus 19.65%. It is important to be noted that a small percentage of applicants get assigned to type 1 accounts.

The annual percentage rate for cash advances is respectively the prime rate + 16.65% for type 1 and the prime rate + 22.65% for type 2. This card has also a due date of 23 days after closing of the billing cycle and a minimum interest charge of $2. Since this card is a Discover card, the applicant has access to transactions such as balance transfers, cash advances and foreign transactions. For these actions he/she needs to pay fee in the amount shown below:

• Balance Transfer: $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer (whichever is greater).
• Cash Advance: $5 or 3% of the amount of the cash advance (whichever is greater).
• Foreign Transaction: 3% of a transaction.

Sam’s Club Business Credit Card

This is a credit card offered to businesses with different annual percentage rates for Puerto Rico (PR) and the other states. Again, the annual rate for purchases is a sum of the prime rate and a fixed percentage. For PR this percentage is 18.00% (since the periodic rate is 1.500%) and for the other states it is the prime rate + 18.40%. Even if the prime rate goes down the company has adopted a minimal APR of 21.90% for purchases in the US. The due date for this card is 20 days after the close of the billing cycle.

The minimal interest charge is $2 (for Puerto Rico is $0).There is a penalty APR equal to 29.90% or the prime rate plus 26.40% (not less than 29.90%).  If a card owner fails to make a payment when it is due or the payment is rejected by the bank this penalty APR will be applied. The cardholders, then need to pay his/her total minimum payment for 12 consecutive billing periods so that the regular APR is applicable again.

By signing the agreement the applicant agrees not to use this card for any personal or household purposes.

Sam’s Club Discover Business Credit Card

Ways to make Sam’s Club Credit Card payment

• By post: Payments should be made by check, money order or other instrument of US located bank. The cardholder should send the payment coupon from the billing statement alongside the payment instrument in one envelop. The addresses  to which the envelop should be sent are:

For mailing payments for Personal Credit Cards:

For mailing payments for Business Credit Cards:

• Online or over the phone: If the cardholder has an online account and follows the instructions there, provides a working bank account, the payments can be made online. However, payments over the phone may be charged with an additional fee.
• In store: Sam’s Club Credit Card payments can be made in any Sam’s Club store or Wal-Mart for convenience.

When to pay