Credit Building > What credit cards does Barclays offer?

What credit cards does Barclays offer?

Wollit Team4 minute read · Updated 1st July 2024

Barclays offers many kinds of credit cards in the UK, each for different needs and preferences.

The main Barclays credit cards in the UK are:

The Barclaycard Platinum credit card, which offers 0% on balance transfers and purchases;
The Barclaycard Rewards card, which gives cashback on everyday spending;
The Barclaycard Avios credit card that allows you to collect Avios points for flights, as well as other rewards.
And the Barclaycard Forward credit builder card, which helps people build or improve their credit history and score.

Let's have a look at them one by one and see how they work.

Barclaycard Platinum Credit Card

The Barclaycard Platinum credit card is an all-rounder card meant for all situations. It offers a promotional period of 0% interest both on balance transfers and purchases.

During this period, which can last between 12 and 24 months, you can either make new purchases or consolidate debts from other cards (or both) without incurring interest charges.

Because of this, the Barclaycard Platinum can be a good option if you're looking to save money on interest payments. You can also use it to give yourself a breather to catch up with other credit card bills and avoid accidentally hurting your credit score.

To be eligible for the Barclaycard Platinum credit card, you must be a UK resident, at least 18 years old, and have a good credit history.

Also, the Barclaycard Platinum credit card does not offer a rewards program. It really is meant only to help people save money on interest.

Barclaycard Rewards Card

Barclaycards Rewards is a card that lets you earn cashback on your purchases, giving you a way to get something back from your spending.

The way this rewards card works is simple:

You can earn 0.25% cashback on all your purchases. This means that for every £100 you spend, you will receive £0.25 in cashback.
The cashback is automatically credited to your account, and you can redeem it as a statement credit or even transfer it to your bank account.
And there are no limits on the amount of cashback you can earn.

At 0.25% cashback, this isn't the best rewards program we've seen. Many credit cards offer cash back over 1%, including some credit-building cards meant for people with bad credit.

Barclays Rewards is different because you can earn these rewards everywhere – dining, shopping for groceries, and so on –. In contrast, other cards usually limit you to their partner stores only.

This can make it a useful card if you want to build a habit of using your credit card often and for small purchases – a good step towards building your credit history.

Barclaycard Avios Credit Card

As the name suggests, the Barclaycard Avios credit card lets you collect Avios points that can be redeemed for flights, seat upgrades, and other travel-related rewards.

How much you can earn depends on what you purchase:

1 Avios point per £1 spent on British Airways flights and holidays;
1 Avios point per £5 spent on other purchases.

When redeeming your Avios points, there are a few restrictions to keep in mind:

Avios points can only be redeemed through the British Airways Executive Club program.
You may have to pay taxes, fees, and carrier charges when redeeming your Avios points for flights.

In addition to earning Avios points, the Barclaycard Avios credit card offers other interesting travel benefits, like worldwide travel accident insurance.

This is great for peace of mind because it saves you from maxing out your card in a medical emergency. The last thing you would want in that situation is to also worry about your damaged credit score.

Barclaycard Forward Credit Builder Card

The Barclaycard Forward card is designed for people with limited or poor credit history and is meant to help them build their credit scores.

The way it works is simple:

You use your credit card for small purchases;
You pay back the amounts on time and in full;
Barclaycard reports your repayments to the credit reference agencies;
Eventually, this builds a credit history and improves your credit score.

To be fair, all credit cards do this. A credit builder card simply accepts more applicants. So, for example, where a rewards card only accepts people with good credit scores, a credit builder card like Barclaycard Forward will be more flexible.

This also means that to compensate for the extra risk that you'll default or miss a payment, Barclaycard is more restrictive when it comes to credit limits, interest rate charges, and fees:

Low minimum credit limit starting from £50 to £1,200;
And a representative APR of 33.9%.

However, compared to other credit builder cards, Barclaycard Forward does have some helpful features:

No annual or monthly fees;
0% interest on purchases for the first 3 months (if you pay back what you owe in the first 3 months, you don't need to worry about that 33.9% APR);
£10 cashback every 3 months in the first year, up to £40 total – something we rarely see credit builder cards offer.
There is also a "Price Promise" feature that can reduce the interest rate by 3% in the first year and another 2% in the second year if you pay all card bills on time.

These features, especially the cashback and price promise, make Barclaycard Forward one of the best options for a credit-builder card.

This doesn't mean that you should get a credit-builder card. A credit card, in general can be a risky tool to build credit for a few reasons:

If you don't pay the card bill on time, the interest rate charges and fees will add up and damage your credit score.
A low credit limit can also make it likely that you'll max out your credit card at some point. This, again, can hurt your credit score.

For a safer solution, consider downloading a credit-building app like Wollit. Wollit reports your monthly subscription as loan repayment, helping you build your credit history without credit limits to max out or interest charges to drain your budget.

If you're serious about improving your credit score, you should probably look into credit-building cards like Barclaycard Forward and credit-building apps like Wollit. The number of different kinds of credit agreements you also have matters for your credit score.

Is Barclays a good credit card provider?

Barclays is an established UK credit card provider and undoubtedly one of the most well-known.

However, while Barclaycard credit cards offer some of the best features and rewards, we've also noticed mixed customer reviews.

Over 3,000 customers, for example, have given Barclaycard a pretty dismal 1.3 out of 5 review score on Trustpilot, one of the largest customer review websites.

They complain about how the company handles disputes, security breaches, and poor customer service.

A recent survey by "Which?" showed similar results, with customers praising how transparent Barclaycard charges are but complaining about its customer service and poor app security. We've also read reviews that mentioned poorly handled fraudulent charges, which is much worse.

In short, it's difficult to say whether Barclays is a good credit card provider. We would have expected better reviews for such a well-known brand. Perhaps your experience will be different. We can only say that if the main reason to get a credit card is to improve your credit score, there are better options and tools out there.