Barclaycard have said that a charge for 'low usage' credit card customers is under consideration. The company have not defined 'low-usage' but it is likely to include those who do not use their card regularly, or indeed never use it. It has been suggested that the possible fee could be up to £20.

Barclaycard have said that introducing a fee will be a last resort and will apply to a minority of customers. They will be contacting up to 1 million card holders in an attempt to encourage them to make more use of their card and therefore avoid a fee.

A total of 9.8 million people currently hold a Barclaycard credit card and the company has 15% of the total credit card market in the UK. Experts suggest that, as Barclaycard is by far the biggest credit card provider in the UK, if it introduced any such fee then it would set a precedent in the industry. Similar action from other providers would be likely to follow.

This is not the first time annual fees have been discussed or introduced by a credit card provider, but part of an increasing trend. Some companies also now charge to move debt from one card to another. In February a £35.00 fee was introduced on 50,000 Lloyds TSB card accounts described as low-usage. At the time Lloyds TSB also refused to provide a definition of 'low-usage'.

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