Barclaycard, a part of Barclays global and retail commercial banking division, has recently launched ‘early assistance scheme’, in order to help its UK customers, who may be experiencing financial difficulty during the economic downturn. The bank has said that through this scheme it has so far helped 11,500 Barclaycard customers.
Reportedly, the customers will be contacted, either by telephone or text message, and invited to discuss their situation with one of Barclaycard’s debt advisers to discuss their individual situation and offer practical help, which might include reducing the minimum payment and advising customers where they can turn for help if they are concerned about their total borrowing.
The bank has added that the scheme is designed to spot customers who may be about to experience problems with their credit before these problems become an issue. Barclaycard has said that they are identifying customers whose account behaviour has recently changed or where they appear to be struggling with their debts.
Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclaycard, said: “We know some of our customers are or will be experiencing financial difficulty this year and we want to help. This means that we’re giving them somewhere to turn to if they’re worried about their borrowing with Barclaycard. It is equally important that our customers have the right amount of available credit and pay the correct price on their borrowings. In the second half of the year, there will be a limited number of price rises where we have a clear indication that potential risks have increased but the numbers involved will be a tiny fraction of the 3 million customers who will see their rates reduced in 2009.”
