Credit Card Costs

Used wisely, your credit card is a great way to buy the things you need. It's flexible, it's convenient, and it comes with its own protection package. But it's important that you're aware of all the fees and charges before you start using your plastic. So let's get down to the nuts and bolts.

Below you'll find a full explanation on all the costs involved. For a quick ready reckoner, see our Summary Box.

What interest will I have to pay?

This is the great advantage of using a credit card to pay for all your purchases – provided you pay your bill in full every month, and by the payment due date, each month you won’t have to pay a penny in interest.

How is my interest calculated?

If you can't pay in full by the due date, you'll be charged interest based on an Average Daily Balance on your account. We work this out by adding up the outstanding balance on your account each day and dividing this by the number of days in the month. Our minimum interest charge is £1.

So the sooner you make a payment to your account, the lower your Average Daily balance will be- and the less interest you'll have to pay.

What about balance transfers?

Tempted to transfer your credit card balance to us, we'll promise you a competitive balance transfer rate. You may have to pay a handling charge, but we'll make this clear when we make you an offer.

When you start making payments to your new account with us, they will go towards paying off your balance transfer first. This means that any further purchases you make will be charged at your standard APR. Once the transferred balance is cleared, your repayments will go towards your new purchases.

What about credit card cheque fees?

We may send you credit card cheques. You can use these to pay off other credit cards or loans, or pay them into your bank account as a convenient way of borrowing money.

The interest rate charged on these cheques will vary, and we may charge a handling fee of 2.5%. We'll send you a letter with the cheque that explains the interest and handling charges (so remember to read the letter carefully before you use the cheque).

We charge standard rate credit card cheques as cash withdrawals (see the next question for further info).

And cash withdrawals?

You can use your Barclaycard to withdraw cash from ATMs worldwide. There is a handling charge of 2.5% and the minimum charge is £2.50.

Note that our typical interest rate for cash withdrawals is 27.9% - we charge a higher rate for cash than for standard purchases. Cash APRs will be marked clearly on your statement.

How about if I use my card abroad?

Using your Barclaycard abroad is often a great way to save money- at 2.75%, our foreign commission charge is usually cheaper than buying foreign currency in a bureau de change, through travellers cheques or in a local bank.

What happens if I don't pay on time or if I spend over my limit?

As with any credit card, we may charge you for late payment or going over your credit limit.

However, there are easy ways of ensuring you never get into this position. For example, you can set up a Direct Debit so that we always receive at least the minimum repayment on your account every month on time.

Remember, though, that if you only pay the minimum balance each month, it will take longer to clear- so you'll pay more in interest charges.

What do you charge for copy statements/copy vouchers?

To cover our administrative costs, we charge £3 per duplicate statement and £5 per copy of a sales voucher.