Barclaycard Credit Limit Discussion Area

sicker · 6 July 2004 at 1:40PM

Mccawz, I asked for a balance transfer of £4500 to pay off my capital one card. My barclaycard arrived to-day with a credit limit of £1300 which they had already transferred £1050 to capital one. I felt like cancelling and letting them sort out the mess of reclaimung from capial one BUT why cut off my nose to spite my face. I phoned capital one to transfer available funds to abbey so that I could move them to my current account and they immediately upped my credit limit to £6000 of which all was transferred to abbey. So although I was only given a limit of £1300 I now have another £2000 making me interest. It's a messy business but worth it if you can spare the time. You can also apply for a barclycard credit limit increase after 3 months.
My letter from Barclycard said, "# Until 1st August 2005 we will not charge interest on standard balance or balance transfer."

John

robnye · 6 July 2004 at 2:32PM

Mccawz, I asked for a balance transfer of £4500 to pay off my capital one card. My barclaycard arrived to-day with a credit limit of £1300 which they had already transferred £1050 to capital one.

That is what i am fearing, i put £4K down for my capital card., oh well if they only transfer 90% of nothing, at least i will be saving some money on interest.

I have also applied for the mbna 0% for 12 months offer. As I have a mint card with the 0% interest offer up for moving elsewhere soon.

My letter from Barclycard said, "# Until 1st August 2005 we will not charge interest on standard balance or balance transfer."

my understanding is that 0% interest only applies to balance transfers within the first 60 days of the account being opened! -

amendment

Yep, got this from the barclaycard website

Balance transfers must be made within 60 days of account opening and be £5,000 or less in order to benefit from 0% interest. Amounts over £5,000 are charged at 6.9% APR.

sicker · 6 July 2004 at 5:59PM

Robnye,
Try phoning 08009177277 and asking them. Iwas definetly assured it was 0% on my 'PLATINUM' barclaycard until 1st August 2005. I was also assured that if sufficient credit was available further balance transfers in three months time (if I get a credit increase of which I have my doubts) would be at 0%.
I wish I had responded to your post before I was stupid enough to have shredded barclays letter. ***silly me***

John

robnye · 6 July 2004 at 6:23PM

Robnye,
Try phoning 08009177277 and asking them. Iwas definetly assured it was 0% on my 'PLATINUM' barclaycard until 1st August 2005. I was also assured that if sufficient credit was available further balance transfers in three months time (if I get a credit increase of which I have my doubts) would be at 0%.
I wish I had responded to your post before I was stupid enough to have shredded barclays letter. ***silly me***

John

john,

sorry i have just reread my post and realised i was wrong,

i was trying to point out that barclaycards website has a statement saying that you could only make balance transfer within the first 60 days, admittedly i havent got my info pack yet (only returned the form with my signature on at the weekend),

the 0% is as you rightly said on balance transfers and purchases until 1st Aug 05

amendment

i wonder if the 60 day thing is to ensure that you balance transfer to it and keep an outstanding balance running on it????

Debbie_Hobdell · 6 July 2004 at 9:15PM

Yes! Got my terms & conditions today, finally - I applied on 12th June!

I phoned up to see what my limit is, but "it hasn't been finalised yet". The gentlemen I spoke to yesterday and today were very friendly & helpful - just as well as I've been getting pretty fed up with Barclaycard!

What the guy today advised is not to fill in the BT bit at the bottom of the T & C letter. You have to phone up to activate the card anyway, so he suggested I wait 'til I get my card then I'll know for certain that won't be transferring too much. It may mean a few more days of having higher interest with 1 card provider, but it'll be worth it to have no interest for approx 12 months.

november · 7 July 2004 at 11:51PM

Just sent back my Barclaycard agreement. I've never had a credit limit stated until I get a card so wasn't surprised they didn't state one.

I also never transfer money until I've been told my credit limit so just noted on it I will transfer when they tell me the credit limit but within the 60 days (as I usually do).

Got in a mess by transfering before hearing a limit before and ending up with a messy balance all over the place on 3 cards situation and never want to go there again

System · 11 July 2004 at 3:36AM

Best advice yet November.

Barclays are obviously quietly reducing the cost of their "0%till 8/05, we are the good guys", marketing ploy. ( Which was to win back custom/sympathy, since their "annus horribilis"). By handing out low credit limits, [another can of worms?].

By asking for a bt on application you are playing into their hands. ie giving them up front, the amount you want to land them with. Dont do it, make them think you just want the card for purchases, then do the bt after you know your limit, and don't bank on getting a promised limit increase later. You can land yourself with 2 or more cards to pay each month instead of just the one you thought. >:(

This happened to me with Cap1 when they started up.
Was sent a "pre approved plat card mailshot with bt offer". Foolishly applied with £2.5k to be transferred from 2 cards.
Card arrived, was ordinary card, limit £1k, but they had proportionately bt'd £750 [75% of limit was max bt]

so instead of two cards to pay I now had three, not the one I was expecting.
Cost a fortune in phone calls complaining, got promises of upgrade to plat and increased limit if my payment record was good.
So I paid off £750 insantly from savings and did rest of original bt request in stages to Cap1, paying off fully each month. Years later my credit limit is still£1k!, about 1.5% of my total limit on other cards Dont believe anything a rep tells you, till you have it in print.

Good Hunting Scat

Harlech · 11 July 2004 at 5:51PM

I'm waiting for my card to appear in the post. I left the balance transfer box empty because I didn't want to transfer too much. I'm planning to call them and do it later.
The terms and conditions seemed to suggest to me that if you transferred above a certain percentage you would pay (I think) 5.9 or 6.9% on the transfer amount above the limit (sorry to be vague but I've returned the form in now and can't remember!).

It's possible that I've misunderstood of course! ???

System · 11 July 2004 at 7:17PM

They gave me a credit limit of £1500, other cards I have are 6.5k, they will not up the limit until 3 months, and you can't balance transfer after 60 days, nice one barclays.

If I apply for the MBNA card will this affect my credit rating?

Debbie_Hobdell · 11 July 2004 at 9:28PM

Of what is evident so far, is there any pattern to the limits that B'card are giving?

Eg if you ask for a large BT, have they given a high-ish limit (even if not as high as you hoped).whilst giving those who request a lower BT a lower limit?

Or do you get the opposite of what you ask?!

Barclaycard Credit Limit Discussion Area

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