Barclaycard cardholders save money with Flexi-Rate

Barclaycard Flexi-Rate, the only credit card that charges a lower interest rate to customers who pay off a higher proportion of their balance each month, is lowering its APR and offering customers a new 0% balance transfer deal.

From 9th October, Flexi-Rate will offer interest free credit card facilities for 12 months on balance transfers (2.5% balance transfer fee) and a lower typical APR of 14.9%, down from 16.9%. The changes will enable cardholders to reduce borrowing costs on other credit cards by switching to Flexi-Rate.

Barclaycard figures show that Flexi-Rate is encouraging cardholders to manage their borrowing responsibly and save money. Flexi-Rate has reduced the proportion of customers that repay only the minimum repayment* by half, reducing the time taken to pay and the overall interest charged. What’s more, customers are twice as likely to repay more than 10% of their outstanding balance each month, reducing the interest rate charged to 9.9%.

Flexi-Rate and the new balance transfer offer will feature in Barclaycard’s latest television advertising campaign, which launches on 9th October. The campaign welcomes two new faces to the Barclaycard brand; actors Julian Rhind-Tutt and Stephen Mangan, best known for their roles in the recent Channel 4 comedy show, Green Wing.

Amer Sajed, Managing Director Barclaycard UK Cards, commented: "We are delighted that Flexi-Rate is continuing to change the way cardholders manage their borrowing. It is clear from our findings that using a card in this way has a positive effect on borrowing costs. By opting to manage their debts more responsibly, customers are rewarded by paying less interest and having the time taken to clear their balance reduced."

Notes to Editors:
- * Findings are from analysis and comparison of cardholder repayment behaviour of Flexi-Rate and non Flexi-Rate customers between October 2005 and July 2006. Barclaycard found that Flexi-Rate halved the proportion of cardholders who opted to pay their minimum repayment over six consecutive months.
- Changing repayment behaviour saves money. For example, a customer borrowing £1,000 on a credit card (15.9% APR) and repaying just the minimum each month would take 21 years and three months to repay and pay £1,400 in interest. The same £1,000 borrowed on Flexi-Rate and re-paid at 10% per month would take 4 years and 6 months and cost £110 in interest, a saving of £1,290.

- Barclaycard Flexi-Rate charges a lower interest rate to those customers who pay off a higher proportion of their balance. Customers who pay more than 10% of their monthly balance are charged an interest rate of 9.9%, those who pay more than 5% are charged 12.9%. Customers who opt to pay less than 5% (minimum 2.25%) are charged 14.9%.

- Barclaycard Flexi-Rate is available through the Barclaycard website

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About Barclaycard
Barclaycard is a multi-brand international credit card and consumer lending business; it is one of the leading card businesses in Europe.

In the UK, Barclaycard manages the Barclaycard branded credit cards and other non-Barclaycard branded card portfolios including Monument, SkyCard and Solution Personal Finance. In consumer lending, Barclaycard manages both secured and unsecured loan portfolios, through Barclays branded loans, being mostly Barclayloan, and also through the FIRSTPLUS and Clydesdale Financial Services businesses.

Outside the UK, Barclaycard provides credit cards in the United States through Barclaycard US, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Scandinavia and across Africa.

Barclaycard Business processes card payments for retailers and issues purchasing and credit cards to business customers.


Key Facts
Number of Barclaycard UK customers 11.2m
Number of retailer relationships 95,000
International cards in issue 5.3m


Contact Details:
Andrew Bond
Barclaycard Press Office
Barclaycard
1234 Pavilion Drive
Northampton
NN4 7SG
01604 251229
Andrew.Bond@barclaycard.co.uk