Barclaycard has announced that it will help its customers through the rough economic downturn by freezing and cutting its interest rates.

Almost 12 million Barclaycard customers would benefit from the decision with three million of its customers seeing their credit card interest rates cut between 2.4 and five percentage points.

Barclays customers will find that the cuts in interest rates and the freeze will be in place for the next four months.

Credit card expert, Martyn Saville of Which? said: “We welcome this first step towards realistic interest rates on credit cards - this is hopefully a sign that credit card companies are finally re-entering the real world with the APR they charge their credit card customers.

“The Barclaycard Simplicity Visa Card has been a Which? Best Buy for everyday use for months and Barclaycard's new move is to be welcomed. We hope that other providers will follow suit and that Barclaycard will cut its rates yet further to help embattled consumers. With the Bank of England base rate now at just 1%, there is still a very long way to go.”

Since the ongoing base rate cuts by the Bank of England a number of lenders have come under pressure to pass the cuts.

Andrew Hagger of Moneynet said: "Since rate cuts on credit cards have been rare over the last few months, and in some cases rates have increased, you could argue that providers now have some room for manoeuvre, considering base rate has fallen by 3.5 per cent in the last four months."

The credit card lender also revealed that it will be introducing a new advice system for its customers who suffer from financial difficulties.