> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://faq.universalaccountservicing.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Promotional offers
> How "no interest if paid in full" works, what you have to do to keep it, and what happens if you miss.
If your purchase came with an offer like **"No interest if paid in full within 12 months"** — sometimes
called *same as cash* — this page explains what you agreed to and what you need to do.
**This is not a 0% loan.** Interest is being calculated on your purchase from the day you took
delivery, and it is adding up right now.
The offer is a chance to avoid paying that interest. You get it only if you meet both conditions
below. If you miss either one, you owe the interest — all of it, back to the delivery date.
Your own agreement says the same thing. One of the lenders in the program puts it in capitals:
> This is NOT a "No-Interest" loan.
## What a promotional offer is
An opportunity, not a discount.
From the day your goods or services were delivered, interest has been calculated on what you
borrowed, at the rate shown on your agreement. Your promotional offer says: pay this off in full
within the promotional period, keep every payment on time, and we will waive that interest.
Meet the conditions and you pay nothing extra. Miss them and you pay the interest that has been
accumulating the whole time.
**Quick check:**
* **It is** a chance to pay no interest, if you pay in full and on time.
* **It is** calculated from your delivery date, not from when the promotion ends.
* **It is not** a 0% APR or "no interest" purchase.
* **It is not** satisfied by paying only your minimum monthly payment.
* **It is not** partly forgiven if you pay most, but not all, of what you borrowed.
Promotional offers appear on several kinds of account — revolving credit lines, retail installment
contracts, and bank or credit union installment loans. If your paperwork mentions a promotional
period, this page applies to you, whatever your account type is called.
## The two conditions
To have the interest waived, you must do **both** of these:
Your **Amount Financed** is the amount you borrowed for that purchase. You need to pay all of
it on or before your **Promotional Period Expiration Date**.
Both figures are on your agreement and on every monthly statement.
Every payment, every month, by the due date — for the whole promotional period.
This is a separate requirement. Paying the balance off early does not excuse a payment you
missed along the way.
Miss either one and interest is owed, calculated from your delivery date at the rate on your
agreement.
**Your promotion's expiration date may not be your payment due date.** They are two different
dates and they often fall in different parts of the month. Your statement prints this warning for
a reason — people miss the deadline by weeks because they assumed the two lined up.
Check your expiration date on your statement now, and put it in your calendar.
## Why the minimum payment is not enough
This is where most people lose a promotion, and it is not obvious.
Your **minimum monthly payment** is calculated to pay off your balance over the *full term of your
contract*. Your promotional period is *shorter* than that term. So paying exactly what you are asked
to pay, every month, on time, will still leave a balance when the promotion expires — and you will
owe the interest.
To work out what you actually need to pay:
> **Amount Financed ÷ months left in your promotional period**
Here is what that looks like on a \$3,600 purchase with a 12-month promotion and a 48-month contract:
| | Amount |
| ------------------------------------------ | ----------- |
| Amount Financed | \$3,600 |
| Minimum monthly payment | \$85 |
| Paid over 12 months at the minimum | \$1,020 |
| **Still owed at the expiration date** | **\$2,580** |
| Monthly payment needed to clear it in time | **\$300** |
Paying the minimum in this example gets you barely a quarter of the way there. Everything else
becomes interest you owe.
Work out your own number now, using the Amount Financed and expiration date on your latest
statement. If the figure is more than you can manage, it is far better to know that eleven months
out than one month out.
## The two structures
Promotional offers come in two forms. **The outcome is identical** — pay in full and on time, and no
interest is owed either way. They differ only in how interest appears on your statement while the
promotion is running.
You can tell which one you have from the wording on your agreement and your statement.
| | Assessed interest | Accrued interest |
| ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Usually labelled** | "No Interest if Paid in Full Within N Months" | "No Interest **Assessed** if Paid in Full Within N Months" |
| **On your statement** | Posted each month as a **Deferred Interest Charge** | Tracked separately as **Non-Assessed Interest Charges** — not added to your balance |
| **Where your payment goes** | To interest first, then to principal | 100% to principal |
| **If you meet the conditions** | The deferred interest is moved to principal and waived. Your balance drops. | The tracked interest is released permanently. Nothing is ever added. |
| **If you don't** | The deferred interest charges stay on your account. You owe them. | The full accrued interest, back to your delivery date, is added **in one lump** on the expiration date. |
The accrued version is the one that surprises people. Nothing appears on your balance for months,
and then the entire interest charge lands at once.
Which structure you have depends on your particular offer, not on what kind of account you hold.
Both appear on revolving accounts and on installment loans. Check the label on your agreement
rather than assuming.
## If you pay most but not all
There is no partial credit.
The promotional benefit requires paying the Amount Financed **in full**. If you are short by any
amount — fifty dollars, five dollars — the entire interest charge is owed.
On an accrued-interest plan, that means the whole accrued interest is added to your balance on the
expiration date.
If you are approaching your expiration date and you are close, [make a one-time
payment](/payments/one-time-payment) for the difference. Clearing the last small amount is worth
far more than it costs.
## If you miss a payment
A missed payment can end your promotion **before** its expiration date.
When that happens, the interest that has accumulated is added to your balance as though the
promotional period had ended that day. Your account then moves to standard servicing, and the
interest that has been assessed is not waived — even if you pay the balance off afterwards.
The fastest way to prevent this is to keep every scheduled payment on time.
[Enrolling in AutoPay](/autopay/enrolling) is the most reliable way to do that.
**If you have an accrued-interest plan, your payments still helped.** Every dollar you paid during
the promotional period went to principal, so your remaining balance is lower than it would have
been on an ordinary interest-bearing loan. You still owe the accrued interest, but you are paying
it on a smaller balance.
## Finding your promotion details
Two places show you where you stand.
### On your monthly statement
Your statement has a panel for each promotion on your account. **The columns are labelled
differently depending on which structure you have**, so you will see one of the two below — never
both.
**Find the interest column first.** It is the reliable way to tell which structure you have:
* **Non-Assessed Interest Charges** — accrued. The interest is being tracked, not charged. None of
it is in your balance.
* **Deferred Interest Charge** — assessed. The interest has already been posted to your account
and is in your balance now.
Do not go by the panel heading. Both structures can appear under *"Interest Charge Calculation for
Unexpired Deferred Interest Plans"* — only the column labels tell you apart.
| What you need from it | On an **accrued** statement | On an **assessed** statement |
| ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| The panel is headed | Interest Charge Calculation for **Unexpired Deferred Interest Plans, if Any** | Interest Charge Calculation for **Special Interest Terms, if Any** — or the same heading as the accrued panel |
| Which purchase the row covers | **Type of Balance**, **Description** | **Type of Balance**, and **Description** on a revolving account |
| Your deadline | **Promotional Period Expiration Date** | **Promotional Period Expiration Date** |
| **What you still have to pay** | **Remaining Amount Financed** | **Amount Financed Remaining** — or **Balance Subject to Deferred Interest** on a revolving account |
| What you originally borrowed | not shown | **Amount Financed** |
| What you have paid so far | not shown | **Total of Payments** |
| The rate you pay if you miss | **APR (%)** | shown on revolving accounts only — otherwise see your agreement |
| Interest added this cycle | **Non-Assessed Interest Charges** | **Deferred Interest Charges**, on revolving accounts |
| **Total interest at stake** | **Total Non-Assessed Interest Charges** | **Total Deferred Interest Charge** |
| Is that interest in your balance now? | **No** — tracked separately | **Yes** — already posted |
**Two numbers matter more than the rest.** Whatever they are called on your statement, read the
amount you still have to pay against the total interest at stake. The first is what it costs you to
keep the promotion. The second is what you owe if you do not. On many accounts the second is larger.
Here is what each looks like.
**On an accrued statement** — the interest column reads *Non-Assessed*:
**On an assessed statement** — the interest column reads *Deferred*:
Both versions print the same two warnings, and both are worth reading: your promotional period
expiration date may differ from your payment due date, and you may need to pay more than your
minimum scheduled payment to clear the balance in time.
Before making a final payment to close out a promotion, check your **current payoff amount** in
uPortal360 rather than paying the figure printed on the statement. On a revolving account that
figure is an average across the billing cycle, so paying it exactly can leave you a few dollars
short — and there is no partial credit.
### In uPortal360
Sign in and go to **Account Summary**, then **Agreement Details**. You will see your **Original
Promo Expiration Date** and, if the promotion has already been terminated, a **Promo Early
Termination Date**.
## Keeping your promotion
Four things, in order of how much they help:
In uPortal360, go to **Contact Info** → **Electronic Communication** and enroll in e-alerts. One
of them is **Promotional Term Expiring**. It is the single most useful setting on your account.
See [Updating your contact information](/signing-in/updating-contact-information).
A missed payment can end your promotion early. AutoPay removes the chance of forgetting one.
You can set an amount **above** your minimum, which also helps you clear the balance in time.
See [Enrolling in AutoPay](/autopay/enrolling).
Use the calculation in [Why the minimum payment is not
enough](#why-the-minimum-payment-is-not-enough) to work out your number.
While there is still time to make a larger payment if you need to.
## Still not sure?
Your agreement governs. If anything here differs from your paperwork, your agreement is what counts
— you can view your own copy in uPortal360 under [Agreement
Details](/statements/agreement-details).
If you want someone to walk through your promotion with you, [contact
us](/getting-help/contacting-uas) — we can tell you your expiration date, what you still need to
pay, and how much interest is currently deferred.