Frequently asked questions on base rate

This is the rate that the Bank of England charges us to borrow money. Each month the Bank of England decides whether to change it based on economic factors.

It has a direct impact on how much it costs us to lend money, so we want to make sure you can clearly see how changes to it affect your interest rates.

If you’d like to know more about the Base Rate, please visit the Bank of England website.

Your statement shows your monthly standard and cash interest rates as simple rates, with an annual compound equivalent. The annual simple rates move in line with the Base Rate – so when the Base Rate changes, your simple rate will change by exactly the same amount. 

See how simple and compound interest works.

You can find what the Bank of England Base Rate is at the Bank of England website.

We’ll leave a message for you on your monthly statement. It’ll show you how much the Base Rate has changed by and how it has impacted your standard and cash interest rates will be.

Please note that when the Bank of England Base Rate does move, it can take up to 14 days for this to be reflected in our systems. If your next statement date falls after we have updated our systems, then your interest rates will change in line with the new Bank of England Base Rate on the day after the next statement date.

If your next statement date falls before we have updated our systems, then your interest rates will change in line with the new Bank of England Base Rate on the day after the second statement date following the Bank of England Base Rate change. We will also advise you of any further Bank of England Base Rate changes via your statement.

Yes, interest rate changes will impact your outstanding balance as well as both new and previous spend. Any promotional balances purchase plans you may have will be unaffected.

Your interest rates move in line with the Bank of England Base Rate, however, changes to the Base Rate (up or down) won't affect you if you close your account. You'll just need to continue to pay your balance down at your current interest rate until it's cleared.

Let’s say the Bank of England Base Rate goes up by 0.5%. You’ll then pay an extra 42p a month more in interest for every £1,000 of your balance – this doesn’t include your promotional balances as these aren’t affected by Base Rate changes.

We will decide whether it is reasonable to replace it with another rate or whether to make other changes to how we calculate interest.

We've changed our Terms and Conditions so that our customers' standard and cash interest rates now move in line with the Bank of England Base Rate. This direct link is to make sure customers can see how a change to the Base Rate directly affects their interest rates. Your interest rates can still change for other reasons, as they can today.

No, your promotional rates aren’t affected by this, only your standard and cash interest rates move in line with the Bank of England Base Rate. Your promotional rates will stay the same for the amount of time you agreed with us, as long as you continue to pay your balance on time and stay within your credit limit.

Yes, cash withdrawals will be charged at your simple cash interest rate, which moves with the Bank of England Base rate. If there’s a Base Rate change, your cash rate will move up or down by the same amount. We will let you know about any changes by adding a message to your monthly statement.

Please note that when the Bank of England Base Rate does move, it can take up to 14 days for this to be reflected in our systems. If your next statement date falls after we have updated our systems, then your interest rates will change in line with the new Bank of England Base Rate on the day after the next statement date.

If your next statement date falls before we have updated our systems, then your interest rates will change in line with the new Bank of England Base Rate on the day after the second statement date following the Bank of England Base Rate change. We will also advise you of any further Bank of England Base Rate changes via your statement.

Interest on cash withdrawals is charged on a daily basis, until you've repaid your cash balance in full.