Barclaycard cuts interest rate by up to 5%

Barclaycard will be reducing the purchase interest rate by between 2.5% and 5% for selected customers.

Barclaycard has identified some three million customers who in their opinion have a low risk profile.

These customers include those for example that clear their credit card account regularly.

The identified customers will be contacted directly by Barclaycard and be advised of their new interest rate and when it will apply.

In addition Barclaycard has confirmed that no individual will have their purchase interest rate increased for at least the next four months, even if their risk profile changes.

Barclaycard is also looking to help those customers who may be facing financial difficulty.

They have established a helpline for customers to call if they want to talk to an expert to help with their financial problems.

Barclaycard are also sharing information with other credit card lenders to understand such as customers total borrowings.

By doing this it will enable them to understand sooner whether a customer is showing signs of financial difficulty. If so they will be proactive and make contact with them to offer support and advice before they start missing payments.

Chief Executive of Barclaycard, Antony Jenkins, said ‘We recognise that 2009 is going to be a difficult year for many people and we want to do what we can, when we can, to help Barclaycard’s customers.’

For new customers, Barclaycard has cut the headline APR by 2.5% to 12.4% on its Barclaycard Platinum and Barclaycard OnePulse (the combned credit, contactless and Oyster card) products.