Updraft helps people pay off credit card debt. If you are working, with two or three card balances and an overdraft that never quite clears, Updraft shows you every balance and what it is really costing you in one free app. Then, if a loan is right for you, it replaces the cards with one fixed-rate loan: one fixed monthly repayment, a rate that cannot change, and a known end date. Updraft is a UK lender, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and it exists to clear balances, not move them.
The whole service rests on three plain ideas. See what you owe. See what it is costing you. Pay it off faster. Card debt is stubborn mostly because it is scattered: spread across statements, apps and minimum payment reminders, the total never quite lands. Updraft starts by putting all of it in one place, because nobody can plan what they cannot see.
The free Updraft app helps you see and pay off your credit card debt. Connect your cards and accounts, and every balance appears in one place, with the interest you are paying on each one and a payoff timeline showing when each balance would reach zero at the rate you are paying now. Your credit score and credit report are included, free. Balances are read securely through open banking via TrueLayer (FCA firm reference number 901096), and access is read-only: it can show your money, it can never move it, and you can disconnect any account at any time. If you would like a closer look first, see what the app shows you.
Card debt is expensive in a quiet way. A minimum payment is sized to keep the account ticking over, not to clear it, which is why a balance can sit for years while much of each payment goes to interest. An arranged overdraft can be worse still: close to 40% EAR, with no term and no end in sight. Updraft shows the interest on every connected balance and how long minimum payments would really take, so the cost stops being abstract and becomes a number you can act on.
Then run the numbers yourself. The pay off calculator shows what your cards are costing and what a fixed plan would look like, and a debt consolidation calculator compares your current outgoings against one fixed monthly repayment. It costs nothing to try the maths, and trying it obliges you to nothing. And to be plain about it: consolidation only makes sense when the total cost is lower and the cards are actually cleared.
When a loan is the right answer, an Updraft loan replaces the cards. You choose the balances you want to clear, from £1,000 to £25,000, over a term that suits your budget, at a rate fixed for the whole term. One monthly repayment, the same amount every month, and a known end date: the month your debt is finished. The typical loan is around £5,000, covering two or three cards. For the same monthly outgoing, more of your money goes to the balance and less to interest than if you stayed on card minimums.
The money goes to the cards. On approval, Updraft pays your card providers directly, so balances are cleared rather than moved, or sends the money to your bank account, typically within days. That is what separates a loan built to repay debt from a balance transfer: a 0% transfer shifts the debt onto another card, and the interest comes back when the promotional period ends. An Updraft loan is designed to end it instead. There are no early repayment charges either, so if you can finish sooner, nothing stands in your way.
Representative example: 25.9% APR Representative based on a £10,000 loan over 60 months at 20.40% fixed interest p.a. Monthly repayment: £283.20. Total repayable: £16,992 (inc. £600 fee). Subject to status and affordability. Consolidating debt may increase the term and total amount repaid. All figures are representative and based upon an assessment of credit and affordability. Terms and conditions apply.
Rates run from 15.3% to 41.2% APR, and yours is personal. Before you commit to anything, a soft search shows whether you are eligible and what your rate would be, with no impact on your credit score. The full application, only if you choose to go ahead, is where a hard search happens, and the loan is reported to credit reference agencies, as any loan is. Affordability is assessed on your actual income and spending, read securely from your bank data alongside your credit file, so the decision rests on what you can really afford rather than the score alone. That matters if your record is fair rather than perfect, or a high street bank has already said no. There is no guarantee of acceptance, and no honest lender would promise one, but you will get a decision based on your real situation. You can check your rate and eligibility whenever you like.
Everything Updraft offers is built around one job: paying off credit card debt. The tools are free to start with, the loan is spelled out before you sign, and nothing here is designed to sell you more credit. The shape of it is simple:
Updraft is for people in work who use credit to get through the month and want to tidy it up: usually two or more credit cards, often an arranged overdraft, and a regular income. For them, credit is an extender, not a crisis. If any of these sound like your situation, you are in the right place:
To apply, you need to be a UK resident with a regular income, a UK bank account, and card or overdraft balances you want to pay off. Just as important is what Updraft is not. It is not debt advice, not a debt management plan, and not the right answer for anyone in real financial difficulty. If things are properly hard rather than just tight, free expert help is available from StepChange, National Debtline, Citizens Advice or MoneyHelper, and that is where you should go first.
More than one million people have used Updraft, and more than £750 million of credit card and overdraft debt has been paid off (company-stated figures, September 2026). Updraft was named Best Personal Finance App at the British Bank Awards 2026, an award voted for by the public. Behind it is a regulated UK lender: Fairscore Ltd, trading as Updraft, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (firm reference number 810923), with lending backed by institutional partners including NatWest, Jefferies and Santander CIB.
On the ratings, quoted by platform and dated, because they move: as at September 2026, Updraft scores 4.7 to 4.8 on Trustpilot, 4.88 on Smart Money People from more than 11,000 reviews, 4.5 on the App Store and 4.8 on Google Play. Recent reviews keep coming back to the same things: applications that are easy to follow, quick decisions, and funds arriving within a couple of days. "Clear information, easy to complete the application and all steps clearly explained. Quick decision." That was Caragh Campbell, on Trustpilot in November 2026, and you can read the reviews yourself.
There is no need to decide anything today. The step-by-step guide to paying off credit card debt walks through the whole process, from connecting your cards to the money landing with your card providers, and the MoneyTalk hub takes on the questions people actually ask, in plain English. For research and a deeper look at the numbers, browse Updraft insights. When you are ready, start with a soft search: it costs nothing, it does not touch your credit score, and it shows you your rate and a decision based on what you actually earn and spend. One picture, one payment, one end date. Credit that lifts you.