Barclaycard has under gone scrutiny in the past few months regarding customer complaints. The UK’s largest credit card company is said to be lowering the minimum repayments on credit cards to keep their consumers in debt.

In the next month the minimum repayment amount is going to change from 2.25 percent to 1.5 percent. This will add up to several thousand pounds for consumers in interest. It will also extend the time period needed to pay off the credit cards.

For example a credit card holder with 5000 pounds on their card with an interest rate of 15.9 percent with a minimum payment could take 31 years to pay off their debt, if they do not add to it. The interest charges would come to a grand total of 5,900 pounds over the time period.

The announcement that Barclay was lowering the minimum payments arose from research stating zero percent balance transfer products were leaving the market at a rapid pace. There have been 2 million consumers rejected for balance transfer deals in the last year, which is 57 percent of all credit card rejections.

It could be the Barclaycard is simply trying to make things easier on consumers they know cannot pay the current minimum repayment. On the other hand credit card offers they have recently sent out are offering 3.99 percent on balance transfers and purchases for up to a year. This offer typically goes to individuals who have paid off their balances almost every month and have great credit scores.

The point with the lowering minimum repayment is not to get stuck in the cycle. If consumers are able to pay the minimum repayment they have for the last ten months they should continue to do so rather than going for the lower payment option.