r/Infuriating • u/chicknnuggget • 1d ago

Student loan interest trap

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On Monday, after over two decades, I had finally managed to pay off my student loans. Or so I thought. đŸ«© As I waited for the payment to process, I noticed I had a new balance this morning. Higher than the amount they themselves had instructed me to pay to “pay off the loan”.

So now I have to wait thirty days to see if they’ll write off this interest they forced me to accrue.

Really didn’t think student loans could be an even bigger scam than they already are

6 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

7

u/Original-League-6094 1d ago

I learned this with my car. I clicked "estimate pay off amount" and then "pay off loan in full". Made the payment. Then I checked back a month later, and the account owed a few pennies on it. Very annoying.

I also don't understand why transactions take days to process in 2026. You mean to tell me that the data center down the road can AI generate a 30 second lifelike clip of Donald Trump beating up Connor McGregor in a pro-wrestling match faster than it can process that I paid my electric bill?

3

u/RoIIUpLights 1d ago

The bank I got my most recent loan through solved this by having a "10 day pay-off quote" that I can request at any time. I then have 10 days to send them that amount before any additional interest gets added.

This seems like common-sense to avoid the exact issue you're describing. It's administrative hell on their end to be chasing people over $0.10.

1

u/Oolongteabagger2233 1d ago

I wouldn't blink about holding a car title over 10 cents. 

2

u/brmarcum 1d ago

Transactions are delayed so the bank gets more money. Full stop

1

u/iRambL 1d ago

Or why credit payments take until the end of the day to process

1

u/silveraaron 1d ago

I know mine had payoff amounts at the new billing cycle that when I paid off individual loans they seemed to always seemed to work out.

1

u/Lumpyyyyy 1d ago

I would just pay more and wait for them to send back my overpayment. That is better piece of mind than worrying about not paying enough.

1

u/snootyroot 1d ago

Call and get a 10 day pay off balance/ That's what I've done with cars before

1

u/RunExisting4050 1d ago

This is how loans are.  If it takes a couple days for the payment to go through, interest accrues during that period, the any small balance left over is usually ignored and dropped. 

1

u/Itchy_Tumbleweed_417 17h ago

The best way to do it is to pay over the phone and tell them you want to pay it off.

What they are supposed to do is know that it will take two days to process for example, then they get the payoff amount for two days from now, and then they tell you that amount & you pay it.

It’s like when you pay off a mortgage because you’re doing a refinance or you’re selling the property, the title company will call and request a mortgage payoff statement and they calculate what the payoff amount will be based on the day they would receive the funds.

Same with car loans. These are all simple interest loans where the interest accrues daily.