Bank or credit union · United Kingdom

Barclays vs Tesco Bank: total repayable, not the headline APR

Best case on £10,000 over 36 months, Tesco Bank costs £10,988 to repay and Barclays £11,088 — a difference of £100 over the term.

Only Tesco Bank publishes the top of its range, so the worst case can be compared on one side only.

Side by side

Both columns use the published APR range and fee range of each lender, computed on the same loan.

£10,000 over 36 months, United Kingdom. Sources: Barclays checked 2026-08-25 and Tesco Bank checked 2026-08-25.
	Barclays	Tesco Bank
Lowest published APR	7.05% representative	6.40% representative
Highest published APR	not published	34.50%
Origination fee	not stated	not stated
Loan amounts	not stated	£3,000 to £35,000
Terms	24 to 60 months	12 to 120 months
You sign for, worst fee	£10,000	£10,000
Monthly, best case	£308.00	£305.22
Total repayable, best case	£11,088	£10,988
Monthly, worst case	top not published	£424.56
Total repayable, worst case	—	£15,284
Total repayable, best case, 60 months	£11,833	£11,661
Owner	not confirmed	not confirmed

How that is worked out

amount received = the amount you want in your account (10,000 on most pages) amount signed for = amount received / (1 - origination fee %) monthly rate = APR / 12 (United States) or (1 + APR)^(1/12) - 1 (United Kingdom) monthly payment = amount received x monthly rate / (1 - (1 + monthly rate)^(-months)) total repayable = monthly payment x months cost of credit = total repayable - amount received cost per 1,000 = cost of credit / (amount received / 1,000)

Nothing else is added. The APR already includes the origination fee by law in both markets, so the payment is worked out on the amount you actually receive, at the APR, over the term — which is exactly how the lender's own representative example is built. The fee shows up as the larger amount you sign for, and the interest on it is inside the APR. Late fees, optional insurance and early-settlement charges are not in any figure on this site, because they depend on what happens after you sign. Best case uses the lowest published APR and the lowest published fee; worst case the highest of each. The full method is at Method.

Where does the answer change?

The ranking above holds only under the conditions listed here.

Do not decide yet until you hold both offers: Tesco Bank stays ahead only if the APR it actually offers you is below 7.05% — Barclays's published floor, which is the point where its £11,088 best-case total is matched on this loan. An offer above that number reverses this page.

Who this is not for

This compares published ranges and nothing else. It is not a judgment about service, approval odds or speed, and we have not borrowed from either. If the two totals are close, this page will not decide it for you and should not.

Sources

Barclays rates page. checked 2026-08-25
Tesco Bank rates page. checked 2026-08-25

Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.