In 2007, Zou, a college student, applied for a credit card from a bank. Because he used the card well, the bank gradually increased the limit to 100,000 yuan. Zou used the card for consumption and failed to repay in time since the last repayment date in December 2015. As of December 2020, *** the total arrears principal was 27,675.75 yuan, interest was 168,998.31 yuan, and liquidated damages were 23,126.63 yuan, *** The total amount is 219,800.69 yuan. Despite repeated urging from the bank, Zou was still unable to return the money, so he sued him to the Pingxiang City Court in Jiangxi Province.
During the trial, the plaintiff’s bank agent believed:
When Zou applied for a credit card, the bank displayed the interest terms in bold font, and his name was also included in the credit card application form. Contents of the statement: I am aware of and promise to abide by it, and Zou also signed and approved it. According to the relevant provisions of the contract law, Zou must bear the costs of returning the principal, interest, compound interest liquidated damages and other expenses according to the contract.
The defendant Zou’s agent argued:
The credit card application contract signed by Zou when he applied for the card stipulates that late payment fees incurred by the cardholder after the card is overdue shall be charged according to the "Commercial Bank Management Regulations" According to the provisions of the Measures, late payment fees have been officially canceled since January 1, 2017. As for the bank's claim for liquidated damages, Zou did not sign the relevant contract, so he was not liable for liquidated damages. In addition, the interest charged by banks, as well as the compound interest calculation method, the comprehensive interest rate seriously exceeds the maximum limit of 15.4% for private lending rates stipulated in the latest law. Although this only limits the maximum rate for private lending, banks, as licensed financial institutions, should charge more strictly within the 15.4% range.
Because banks have relevant rights such as uploading credit reports, when cardholders are overdue on both credit cards and private loans, based on the impact on their credit reports, they will definitely give priority to repaying the credit card debt. Obviously, the accounting risk of banks is lower than that of private lending. Therefore, the rates charged by banks must also be calculated with reference to the maximum annual interest rate of 15.4% for private loans.
After review, the court held that: Both parties had no objection to the principal amount of 27675.75, and the bank failed to provide evidence to prove that it had collected liquidated damages from Zou through the method agreed in the agreement. be supported. In addition, the interest of 168,998.31 yuan proposed by the bank included compound interest, which had no legal basis and was not supported by the court.
In the end, the court ruled that Zou should repay the bank’s credit card principal of 27,672.75 yuan and interest (since the overdue date in December 2015, based on the actual principal owed, with an annual interest rate of 18% (50,000 points on the same day) ) is calculated until the date of repayment).
Why didn’t the court adopt an interest rate of 15.4%? That’s because the latest law only has new provisions for private lending and does not have new interest rate provisions for financial institutions. Therefore, we can only follow the provisions of the old law that the annual interest rate does not exceed 24%. Combined with the contract between the two parties in this case, today The interest rate is 5/10,000, which translates into a comprehensive annualized rate of 18%. Through this case, everyone can learn a lot of new financial legal knowledge. When encountering such high-interest loans, there is no need to be afraid, and you should actively use the law to protect your legitimate rights and interests.