Vanquis

Vanquis is a UK bank best known for credit cards aimed at people with a limited or damaged credit history, and it also takes savings. It sells three credit cards, the Credit Builder card, the Low APR Balance Transfer card and the Travel card, plus savings accounts and fixed-rate cash ISAs. Its cards run on the Visa network, so they work wherever the Visa sign is shown, and the interest and fees on each card are set out in that card's own summary.

The thing to understand before anything else is that Vanquis is a lender that also accepts deposits, not a current account provider. It holds a banking licence, appears on the Bank of England's list of UK banks authorised to accept deposits, and its permissions cover accepting deposits, lending and issuing electronic money¹. That matters for two reasons: money you save with it is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and the cards are regulated credit agreements, so you have the usual protections when something goes wrong.

This page covers what Vanquis offers across its products, how its card charges work, who can apply, how to run an account in the app, how to complain, and how your money is protected. It does not list today's rates or fees: those change and are set out on Vanquis's own site and in the summary for the card you hold.

What Vanquis offers: credit cards and savings

Vanquis's main business is credit cards. It issues three consumer cards, each aimed at a different job: the Credit Builder card for people building or rebuilding a credit history, the Low APR Balance Transfer card for moving an existing balance, and the Travel card for spending abroad. All three are Visa cards, which is what makes them usable overseas and what sets the exchange rate when you spend in another currency³.

Alongside the cards, Vanquis takes deposits. It offers savings accounts and fixed-rate cash ISAs, and the fixed-rate two year cash ISA carries a £1,000 minimum deposit⁶. A cash ISA is a savings account where the interest is not taxed, and it comes in two broad shapes: a variable rate version, typically easy or instant access, where the provider can change the rate at any time, and a fixed-rate version where the rate is set for a term⁸. Vanquis's fixed-rate ISA is the second kind.

The wider market it sits in is worth knowing. Credit cards in the UK come from banks, finance companies and larger supermarket and store chains, so a card is not only something a bank offers⁹. Savings accounts more generally include ISAs, instant access and fixed term options¹⁰. Vanquis competes in both, but its cards are the part of the business most people meet it through.

If you are weighing up a card from Vanquis against the wider market, our guide to credit cards sets out how the different types work, and savings and ISAs cover the deposit side.

Vanquis credit cards and how they work

Each Vanquis card is a credit agreement with its own terms, and the differences between them matter more than the brand name on the plastic.

The Credit Builder card is the entry product. It charges interest on purchases at a standard monthly rate, and it charges interest on cash transactions from the date of the transaction until the cash balance is paid in full⁴. That last point is the one people miss: a cash withdrawal on a credit card starts costing interest immediately, with no interest-free period, unlike a purchase.

The Low APR Balance Transfer card is built around moving an existing balance across. It charges no interest on any purchase balance or balance transfer shown in a monthly statement if you repay the total balance shown on your statement in full by the payment due date⁵. Miss that, and interest applies. Cash transactions on this card are charged from the date of the transaction until the cash balance is paid in full⁵.

The Travel card is the one for spending abroad. It uses Visa's base exchange rate for every transaction, set on the date the transaction is processed and subject to change at Visa's discretion¹¹. It is accepted in over 24 million shops, restaurants and retailers worldwide wherever the Visa sign is shown³. You can choose the card colour once your application has been accepted, from Black, Pink, Aqua, Blue, Rose and Purple³.

Vanquis also runs a rewards scheme, Vanquis Rewards, which is free to join and requires a personal Visa card registered to a UK billing address, registered through the Vanquis banking app¹². Business and corporate Visa cards, Visa prepaid cards, and cards not registered to a UK billing address are excluded¹². Cashback redeemed to a registered credit card is credited to the balance and does not count towards your minimum payment¹². If your Vanquis credit card account is closed, the rewards account closes with it¹².

How interest and charges work on a Vanquis card

The single rule that decides whether a Vanquis card costs you anything in interest is whether you clear the total statement balance by the payment due date. On the Credit Builder and Low APR Balance Transfer cards, no interest is charged on purchase or balance transfer balances shown in a monthly statement if you repay the total balance shown in full by that date⁴. Pay less than the full amount and interest applies to the balance that carries over.

Cash is different on every card. Vanquis charges interest on cash transactions from the date of the transaction until you pay the cash balance in full, so there is no interest-free window on a withdrawal⁴. The rate that applies to a cash withdrawal is set out in the summary for your card, and it is higher than the rate on purchases. Vanquis publishes the current figures for each card on its own site and in the card's summary document.

Where your payment goes matters too. When you pay less than the full amount owed, Vanquis applies payments in a set order: first to any overdue amounts from previous statements, then to the total statement balance, then to recent transactions not yet on a statement. Within each of those, the money goes to the highest interest rate part first, and interest and charges are always paid off first⁴. In practice that means your payment clears the most expensive debt before the cheapest, which is the outcome most borrowers would want, but it also means a small payment can be swallowed by charges before it touches the balance.

Fees sit alongside interest. Vanquis publishes late payment fees, over limit fees, money transfer fees and cash transaction fees for its cards, and the amounts differ by card³. The place to check what applies to you is the useful information section of your statement, which lists the fees and charges for your account¹³.

Who can apply for a Vanquis credit card

Vanquis sets eligibility rules per card, and the Travel card's are published. You are not eligible if you are currently bankrupt, have an active Individual Voluntary Arrangement, already have a card or an open application with Vanquis, or have been declined by Vanquis in the last 6 months³.

The application itself starts with an eligibility check that has no impact on your credit score, followed by the application in a few steps. Vanquis asks for your address details for the last 3 years, your bank details, and your annual income and monthly outgoings³. Having those to hand before you start is the practical preparation.

If your circumstances are the reason you are looking at a card like this, it helps to know what else is open to you. People who are bankrupt or have an IVA are not shut out of banking: all high street banks offer bankruptcy-friendly basic bank accounts, and prepaid card accounts are available to undischarged bankrupts¹⁴. Credit unions are another route, offering loans, savings, bank accounts and other services to their members, with services varying by branch¹⁶. Our guides to credit unions and debt set out those options.

A card is also not the only kind of borrowing. Credit cards, overdrafts and payday loans are the commonly used credit products, and they behave very differently from each other in cost and risk¹⁸. If you are comparing, our guide to loans covers the alternative.

Vanquis savings accounts and fixed-rate cash ISAs

Vanquis takes deposits through savings accounts and fixed-rate cash ISAs. The fixed-rate two year cash ISA has a £1,000 minimum deposit⁶. A fixed-rate cash ISA sets the interest rate for the term, so the rate you are quoted at the start is the rate you get until the term ends, unlike a variable rate cash ISA where the provider can change the rate at any time⁸.

That difference is the main decision on the savings side. A fixed rate gives certainty for the term but usually locks the money in, and taking it out early can cost you interest. A variable rate keeps access but the rate can move against you. Which suits depends on whether you need the money during the term, not on which pays more today.

The other thing to check is how far your money is protected. Vanquis is a bank, so deposits are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to the standard limit¹. That protection is per person, per bank, so if you hold savings with more than one brand that shares a banking licence, the limit covers them together rather than separately. National Savings and Investments is the exception to the usual rules: it is the UK government savings bank and is backed by HM Treasury, protecting 100% of savings⁸. That is not how a bank deposit works.

If you are deciding where to put savings, our guides to savings and ISAs cover the account types and the tax treatment.

Managing your account in the Vanquis app

Vanquis runs its accounts through its app, and the app is where most day to day tasks happen. To find your statement, select 'Transactions and statements' on the homepage and then 'Statements'¹³. From there you can view and download statements, which is also where the fees and charges for your account are listed, in the useful information section¹³.

If you would rather have paper, Vanquis posts statements to customers who have requested paper copies¹³. That is worth knowing if you need a document for a dispute, a benefits claim or a mortgage application and would rather have it on paper than as a download.

The app is also the route into Vanquis Rewards: registration for the cashback scheme is completed through the Vanquis banking app, and the registered card can be a physical card or one held in an Apple Pay or Google Pay mobile wallet¹². Other third party wallets may not be reliably tracked, so a card held in one of those may not earn cashback properly¹².

For the wider picture on running accounts digitally, including how apps access your data, our guide to current accounts covers the basics, and the Financial Conduct Authority explains open banking as a secure and regulated way for people and businesses to share access to payments data from their bank account with trusted apps and services¹⁹.

Vanquis complaints: how many are upheld

Complaint volumes against Vanquis are high relative to its size, which is worth knowing before you take out a product. In the six months from 1 January to 30 June 2025, 22,086 complaints were opened against Vanquis Bank, 23,062 were closed, and 3,814 were upheld, an uphold rate of 16.54%⁷. In the first half of 2024, 16,067 new cases were opened against Vanquis Bank Limited²⁰.

Deposits and savings accounts excluding cash ISAs generated 1,294 complaints in 2025/26²¹. These are market-wide figures, not Vanquis-specific, and they show the scale the ombudsman deals with.

An uphold rate is not a verdict on a firm. It is the share of complaints the ombudsman decided in the consumer's favour, and it varies by product and by the mix of complaints a firm receives. What it tells you is that a meaningful minority of complaints about Vanquis are found to have merit, so if you think something has gone wrong, pursuing it is not pointless.

If you have a problem with a card purchase, there are routes beyond the firm. Chargeback applies to credit and debit card purchases of any value, though it is not enshrined in law and each scheme run by Visa, Mastercard and Amex has its own rules²². For credit card purchases there is also Section 75, which can make the card provider jointly liable. Our guide to consumer protection sets out how these work.

How to complain to Vanquis, and what happens next

Complain to Vanquis first. That is not a formality: the ombudsman will not take a case until the firm has had the chance to resolve it.

The eight week clock is the key deadline. If Vanquis has not given you a final response within eight weeks, you can go to the ombudsman whether or not Vanquis has finished looking at it²³. If it does respond and you disagree with the outcome, you can escalate then. The ombudsman's service is free to consumers, and its decisions bind the firm.

The ombudsman covers banking and payment services including current accounts, savings accounts, direct debits, money transfers, electronic payment platforms, cheques and banker's drafts, so a complaint about a Vanquis card or savings account falls within its remit²⁴. Where a complaint is about a payment or a transfer, the Payment Systems Regulator also has a role in how consumers are helped²⁵.

If your complaint is about debt rather than the account itself, free and impartial help is available. Our guide to debt sets out the options, and scams and fraud covers what to do if a transaction was not authorised.

How your money is protected with Vanquis

Vanquis Bank Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, with reference number 221156¹. It appears on the Bank of England's list of banks incorporated in the UK authorised to accept deposits². Its permissions cover issuing electronic money, entering into regulated credit agreements as lender, and accepting deposits¹. The company is active and was incorporated on 15 November 1990²⁶.

For a saver, the practical consequence is deposit protection. Because Vanquis is a bank, money held in its savings accounts and cash ISAs is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to the standard limit¹. That protection is per person, per banking licence, so if you hold savings with another brand that shares Vanquis's licence, the two balances count together towards one limit rather than each getting their own.

For a borrower, the protection is different. A Vanquis credit card is a regulated credit agreement, which means the usual consumer credit rules apply, and disputes can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service²³. Card purchases also carry the card scheme protections described above, including chargeback and, for credit cards, Section 75²².