Overdrafts explained

What is an overdraft?

An overdraft is a short-term way to borrow money through your current account.

There are two types of overdraft – arranged and unarranged. We explain what these mean below.

• An arranged overdraft is an overdraft limit we agree with you. It lets you borrow money through your current account up to your arranged overdraft limit. It can be a safety net to cover unexpected short-term outgoings, like an unexpected bill. Interest is calculated for each day you’re overdrawn, on the amount you’ve used up to your overdraft limit. If any part of your overdraft is interest-free, we won’t charge interest on that part of your overdraft balance. 
• An unarranged overdraft is when you haven’t agreed an arranged overdraft limit with us, but you spend more money than you have in your current account, or you go over your arranged overdraft limit. We won’t charge any interest on any amounts that take you into an unarranged overdraft. 

If you’re relying on your overdraft a lot, get in touch with us and we can see if there are more appropriate borrowing options for you.

What happens if I go over my arranged overdraft limit?

You should make sure you have enough money in your current account to make payments without going over your arranged overdraft limit. If you want to make a payment that would take you over your arranged overdraft limit, we can refuse to make the payment.

Very rarely, we might not be able to refuse to make a payment (for example, because the payment has been made offline on a flight). If this happens, you might go over your arranged overdraft limit.

We won’t charge any interest on any amounts that are over your limit. Going over your arranged overdraft limit might negatively affect your credit score. This may make it harder to get credit in the future.

Does having an overdraft affect my credit score?

We may send information about your account to credit reference agencies. As with any debt or borrowing, this may affect your credit score.

How can I use your overdraft eligibility tool and overdraft cost calculator?

You can use our:

• overdraft eligibility tool to see how likely you are to be approved for an arranged overdraft with the limit you want; or 
• overdraft cost calculator to see how much it would cost you to borrow different amounts for different lengths of time.

Can I change my arranged overdraft limit?

You can tell us to reduce the overdraft limit to a lower amount that’s at or above the amount of your existing overdraft balance. If you tell us you want to remove your arranged overdraft limit, you’ll need to pay us everything you owe us. You can tell us you want to reduce or remove your arranged overdraft limit on our app, online, by visiting a branch or by calling us on 0345 734 5345. To maintain a quality service, we may monitor and record calls. Calls to 03 numbers are usually taken off any free minutes you have. Otherwise they cost the same as calls to 01 and 02 numbers.

What alerts will you send me?

If we hold a valid mobile number for you, we’ll automatically register you for relevant alerts about your overdraft and any payments we’ve refused to make. This is to help you avoid paying extra interest and other charges. You can also choose to receive other alerts to help you manage your finances. These include alerts if your current account balance is low, or if a large payment has gone through. You can choose which alerts you receive online, on our app, by phone or in branch. To find out more, visit barclays.co.uk/alerts .

We know it’s easy to slip a little and we’ve got you covered. We won’t charge you interest if you go overdrawn by £15 or less.

When you make a payment, you must have money in your account to cover the payment at 3pm on the day the money is due to go out. The money needs to be immediately available to use, so you can transfer money from another account using  mobile ,  online ,  telephone banking , or you can pay cash over the counter at a branch. If there isn’t enough money in your account, we will always try and return the payment to help you avoid going into an unarranged overdraft.

If we have a valid mobile number for you, we’ll automatically enrol you to receive relevant alerts regarding overdrafts and returned payments.

Staying on top of your finances

If you're struggling financially

Our  Money management  pages provide practical tips to help you deal with money problems and debt. You’ll find guides to budgeting and what to do if you’ve been turned down for credit, along with tips on coping with the anxiety money problems can cause. Take a look at our  support page  to find out how we can support you when you need us the most.

You can also speak to one of our personal bankers at  branch  or call us on 0345 734 5345⁽³⁾.

If you want to reduce or remove your arranged overdraft limit, you can usually do so in the  Nova Bank app  or  Online Banking ⁽²⁾. Alternatively you can do this at a  branch  or through  Telephone Banking ⁽⁴⁾. 

If you want to increase your arranged overdraft limit, most customers can apply in the  Nova Bank app  or  Online Banking . Alternatively you can apply at a  branch  or through  telephone banking . If you visit a branch, please bring payslips for the previous two months or eight weeks, and a statement for the account your income is paid into if it’s not a Nova Bank account.