Interest Free Period | Barclaycard (2024)

Sometimes it's nice to have a little more time. And when you make purchases on your credit card, you’ll get up to 56 days interest-free, when you pay in full and on time. So, if you’re planning on making a large purchase, take the maximum advantage of your interest-free period by making your purchase on the first day of your billing cycle.

But there are some important things to keep in mind, to make the most of your interest-free period. And we’re here to help you get confident using your credit card.

To start benefiting from this feature, you must have cleared your outstanding balance from previous months and be confident that you can make the full repayment when it’s due. If the purchases aren’t repaid in full by the end of the interest-free period, interest will be charged on them from the date they were purchased.

The below is an illustrative example only, to show you how the interest-free period on your card works. Your statement dates may be different – you can check yours in Barclaycard online servicing or the app.

• Let’s say your billing period starts on 1 January (this is also when your interest-free period on purchases will begin)
• When your monthly bill is generated, say on 31 January (this will show the purchases you’ve made during the month – i.e. 31 days of purchases)
• Your bill will include a ‘payment due date’. You’ll generally have 25 days to make a payment – i.e. due 25 Feb
• If you make a payment in full and on time, you’ll avoid any interest charges (up to 56 days interest-free). means you’d have until 25 February to pay off the purchases in full, otherwise interest will be charged on them (31 + 25 = 56 days)

This example timeline shows how the up to 56 interest-free days are split in two – the time when purchases are made and billed (the billing period), and the additional time there is to pay them back in full and avoid paying interest on them (the grace period).

Don’t worry, you can still make the most of balance transfers, money transfers and Instalment Plans without losing the interest-free period on your new purchases.

If you card has a promotional balance, you won’t be charged interest on your purchases as long as you’ve paid them off in full by the time the interest-free period ends.

To show you how this works, here’s an example using a promotional balance and up to 56 days’ interest-free credit: