Coronavirus and your overdraft

How can I reduce how much interest I’m charged on my overdraft?

To help during this time, we’re temporarily capping overdraft interest charges on personal current accounts at £180 per monthly charging period until further notice.

We charge interest for each day you’re overdrawn above any interest-free limit. To see how much your overdraft might cost over 31 days, use our overdraft calculator.

You can repay your overdraft at any time by paying off the amount you owe, or pay in money to reduce it and lower the cost of your overdraft above any interest-free limit. If you’d like to cancel or reduce your overdraft limit, you can do this at any time by contacting us – just bear in mind you’ll need to reduce the amount you’ve borrowed to less than the new limit.

Worried about your overdraft?

We’ve put together a range of guides to support you, and help you manage your finances and improve your financial habits.

If you’re struggling, we’re here to help – please call us on 0800 161 5234¹. We’re here Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, and from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays.

Calling us won’t affect your credit file, but some of the solutions we offer might – we’ll let you know if this is the case when you call. You’ll also need to have your account details and information about your monthly incomings and outgoings ready when you phone us.

Depending on your individual circumstances, we may be able to  

• Refinance your overdraft onto a Barclayloan, depending on how much you owe and as long as you pass our affordability and credit checks. The easiest way to apply for a Barclayloan is online, but if you're unable to do so, please contact us to discuss how we may be able to help you
• Reduce or waive interest charges on your overdraft
• Agree a repayment plan to gradually reduce how much you owe on your overdraft

For free and independent advice, you can also get in touch with these organisations

• StepChange Debt Charity – call on 0800 138 1111 or go to stepchange.org 
• My Money Steps – for help managing your money, go to mymoneysteps.org 
• National Debtline – if you live in England, Scotland or Wales, go to nationaldebtline.org or call 0808 808 4000 

Will support affect my credit score?

It depends on the type of support and your circumstances. Some of the options available to you might affect your credit score, but we’ll discuss that with you before you choose an option.

Where can I see my overdraft limit?

You can see any arranged overdraft limit you have, as well as your current balance, in your Barclays app or in Online Banking.

What support was available up until 31 October 2020?

We didn’t charge any interest on overdrawn balances on personal current accounts from 27 March to 30 April 2020.

Between 1 May and 9 July 2020, we didn’t charge interest on overdrawn balances of up to £750.

From 10 July to 10 August, we didn’t charge interest on overdrawn balances of up to £500.

If, during those times, you used more of your arranged overdraft than the amounts above, we waived some of the interest to reduce the annual rate of interest (EAR) to 19.51%.

If you asked us to, we also provided similar support for a further two months on your main personal current account. You could apply for this support between 11 August and 31 October 2020.

Until 31 October 2020 or the end of your two months’ requested support (whichever was later), we temporarily capped interest charges at £90 per monthly charging period. After that, interest charges on personal current accounts are temporarily capped at £180 per month up until further notice. 

My agreement says you charge 35% EAR for using my overdraft. Is this right?

Yes – that’s correct.

The above additional support was only temporary – it didn’t change the terms of your overdraft agreement with us.