Review: Barclaycard Credit Builder Card

Hello! I’ve been thinking about how to be helpful, and one of the things that occurred to me is that it’s actually very hard to compare credit cards today. Aggregator sites do a good job of collecting data, but it’s hard to sift through this and figure out which card is actually the best. So in the spirit of helping you - and trying to remain objective about this :-) - here is the first such review in a series of ones we’ll be doing on ‘competitors.’ Product: Barclaycard Creditbuilder Card - ‘Forward’ Card

Overall, how I feel about it: 😐

What I like about it

• I like that there’s no annual fees - it’s free to get

• I like that the interest rate comes down over time

• My bank account is with Barclays, so at least paying this off will be easy

• My bank account is with Barclays, so um, maybe I’m more likely to get it?

What I don’t like about it:

• It seems like the limit I get could be really low - range is £50 to £1200. Getting £50 would be very not helpful

• There’s a £12 fee for late payments. Not cool. Sometimes I forget, I don’t want to be charged for my forgetfulness

• There’s a 2.99% fee for spending abroad - and then there’s the hidden exchange rate margin. Sounds tough

• The card looks a bit meh

What you should know:

• The name of the bank giving you the credit card doesn’t appear on your credit card! So if you’re thinking ‘oh, other lenders will be able to see that Barclays gave me a credit card’ - nah, that’s not how it works.

Would I use it:

• Meh. Probably not. Sorry :(