So I fanally went to my bank and the very helpful manager looked into it for me and gave me this explanation: Back in January 2016 I transfered a large amount into someones account (to pay a deposit on property). Standard Bank sees this as you using your credit card as a 'cash wallet', because it wasn't a 'purchase'. He explaines: The “Cash Finance Charge” as displayed on the statement doesn’t refer to a fee that you pay, it refers to the interest that you pay on the amount that is owing. Please see below: Finance Charge: Interest paid on the outstanding amount owed incurred by means of card swipes and online payments. Cash Finance Charged: Interest paid on the outstanding amount owed incurred by means of cash withdrawals, transfers and beneficiary payments. It can be compared to a personal loan that you sign up for. Every month you would pay interest on the loan, but as the total outstanding amount of the loan reduces, so does the interest, but interest will be charged up until the loan is settled. So basically you will keep paying interest for the privilege of using your credit card for cash until you settle the amount in full, not only for that amount but all your purcahses too (for me it was 2.5 years). My advise is look at your statements from loooooong ago when you used your credit card to transfer an amount and not as a purchase - you're paying interest on it. I hope this helps.
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