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It says "get extra 40 days to pay your bills" with no interest!

Is it just based on the statistics that people will eventually forget paying and then charge interests from those 40 days, or are there any other things they must be considering to offer this kind of service with no interest?

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By getting into a credit card contract, you effectively obtain a revolving credit limit, essentially a loan that once paid is again available (in contrast, under a debit card contract you only get the facilitation of "plastic money/carry no cash", but you are contractually obliged to fully pay the balance on the date due. Diner's Club, the first card, was and remained for decades, such a "debit" card).

Now, people don't just "forget" to pay the credit card on time in order to not incur interest costs: they may purposefully leave some amount unpaid, in order to smooth their consumption patterns, effectively using the credit card as a loan facility to do that. What? With the usual "exorbitant" interest rates credit cards charge?

Well, if you cannot get any other kind of credit, you take what you can get, if you really need it, or want it.

So the bank looks at:

1) The fees that collects from the supplier
2) Handsome interest income from customers leaving some amount of the utility bills unpaid, turning it into a loan
3) If they are new customers, lured from the "bills payment" ad, that they will use the credit available to make other purchases also, so more fees and more interest income.

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From a marketing point of view it's a very effective way of acquiring customers.

And you raise a good point, people often do forget these things, so banks can also profit that way.

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    $\begingroup$ This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post. $\endgroup$
    – Jamzy
    Sep 14, 2015 at 2:49
  • $\begingroup$ Why does it not provide an answer? The question asks why banks do something. I replied that one reason would be a marketing strategy to acquire new customers. I gave a reason for an action of a bank, which was the question. $\endgroup$
    – BB King
    Sep 14, 2015 at 8:39
  • $\begingroup$ It seems more a comment. You didn't say anything bad, just didn't offer anything new. If you add a source and elaborate on what you're saying it would be a good answer. $\endgroup$
    – Jamzy
    Sep 14, 2015 at 8:41

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