24 May 2007
Barclaycard is being rumoured to impose a 20 fee on credit card users who the lender feels aren't using their plastic often enough.
Customers who have not used their card in the past year or have not met a set level of credit card spending are set to receive a 10 or 20 fee, though the Sun reports that this could be increased further to 25.
Barclaycard's announcement follows a similar policy adopted by Lloyds TSB earlier this year which saw irregular credit card users being charged a 35 per year fee on customers deemed to be in the 'low usage' bracket.
According to the Sun, a leaked document from Barclaycard revealed that it would be "happy to lose a proportion of their customer base - particularly the long-term inactive".
It also suggested that the lender should wait until at least two other card issuers had introduced similar fees since "the issuer who goes first will suffer the strongest negative reaction including bad press and the highest account closure".
When confronted, a spokesperson for Barclaycard insisted that the move was "a last resort" measure and insisted that it was looking at "looking at ways where we can provide better service".