Barclaycard Initial Experience

cld28

Hi,

I have been using sub-prime credit cards for the past year, in order to build up my credit history. I have paid in full every month thus most of my limits are now at £1000. I have now been accepted for a Barclaycard Initial which means I can ditch my Vanquis card but more so because I have heard that Barclays will start to lower the interest rate from 34% with good account conduct. Does anyone have any experience of them doing this and how long they usually take? My card would be paid in full every month and using for everyday purchases. Thanks in advance

[Deleted User]

If you're paying in full every month then the interest rate doesn't matter, you can just ignore it. Many 'prime' cards, especially rewards cards, have high interest rates but people who know what they're doing don't have to worry about those.

If you have a bigger purchase in mind and want to use a card to spread the cost then you'd be better off using the BC initial for a while to reinforce your good credit record, say 6-12 months, and then apply for a 0% purchase card.

izools

It does actually say on their website that they will review your account and may reduce your interest rate.

It is only very very recently that they increased the standard APR on the Initial card to 34.9% and added the clause in their advertising that they may reduce the interest rate, so no one will have had the 34.9% APR card for long enough to have actually experienced this yet.

However, for many many years Barclaycard have reduced customers' APR when they have run their accounts impeccably for a long time and the customer has asked them to.

I first got an initial card seven or eight years ago, when the standard APR on it was 25.9%.

Within two years this had reduced to 9.9% APR but I had to call them every six to nine months with a £NIL balance threatening to close the account and each time they reduced it a little

geekonthepc

Ouch, looks like Barclaycard have only just changed that rate - up until very recently the Initial was 29.9%.

I applied for an Initial in November last year when it was 29.9% as my first card and was accepted with a £400 limit. I paid my account in full religiously and after 4 months I applied for and was accepted a credit limit increase to £600. A further 2 months later, my bank offered me an HSBC credit card at 19.9%, so I called Barclaycard and asked them to match it. Got them down to 21.9% and they moved me to the Freedom Rewards card with a £1000 limit. Not bad going I'd say, but I ALWAYS pay my account in full and don't intend to change that any time soon.