Barclays Rate Promise
Our promise to you
If you’re worried about the effect on your savings of interest rates going up or down, then our new Barclays Rate Promise offers you a reassuring solution.
What are we promising?
The Barclays Rate Promise applies to five of our variable rate savings accounts. These are listed below. It promises that the interest rates on these accounts will follow future changes (up or down) in the Bank of England Bank Rate between 7 March 2011 and 1 March 2012.
Any upward changes will be reflected in your interest rates within 30 days of the Bank of England announcement, and we will give you at least 60 days’ advance personal notice of any downward changes in your interest rate following a change in the Bank of England Bank Rate.
Why are we making this promise?
There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding interest rates and we want you to know that you will benefit should there be any increases in the Bank of England Bank Rate before 1 March 2012.
Which accounts are covered by the Barclays Rate Promise?
The Barclays Rate Promise is a commitment that applies to the accounts listed below if they were opened between 7 March 2011 and 19 June 2011.
What does this mean for these accounts?
As an example, if the Bank of England increases its Bank Rate by 0.25%, then Barclays will also increase the interest rates on the eligible accounts listed above by 0.25%. This increase will be reflected in your interest rate within 30 days of the Bank of England announcement.
Alternatively, if the Bank of England reduces its Bank Rate by 0.25%, then we will also reduce the interest rates on the eligible accounts by 0.25%. We will tell you about this reduction in advance, as outlined above.
Given the historically low nature of the Bank Rate since early 2009, an increase in the Bank Rate between now and March 2012 is widely expected.
Remember that this applies to changes between now and 1 March 2012.
What happens from 1 March 2012?
From 1 March 2012 the interest rates will remain variable and we will advise you of any changes as set out in our Retail Customer Agreement.
What is the Bank of England Bank Rate?
The Bank Rate, formerly known as the Base Rate, is the interest rate at which the Bank of England lends to banks and other financial institutions.
For this reason, the Bank Rate has an effect on the level of interest rate paid or charged by banks and other financial institutions on their savings or lending products.
