Barclaycard: Initial to Platinum & Internal Discussions
OverExposed
Posts: 16 Forumite
in Credit cards
Hi all,
I currently have a Barclaycard Initial - have had since 2010 and limit is £15,000
Interest is obviously high at around 29%
Current balance is around £4,000
Recently got upgraded to Barclays Premier Banking and during a call with a relationship manager I said the Initial BC no longer suits me (far better cards externally given my credit profile). He put me through to the BC team who said I couldn't apply for a Platinum since I'm not a new customer. They said my options were to either:
1. pay off BC initial, close initial, wait 6 months, and apply for BC platinum for which I would get same intro offers + rate as a new customer, but no guarantee that the credit limit would be £15,000
2. get BC team to transfer me from initial to platinum internally instantly with no application, but getting no new customer benefits and having the same high rate of 29%. but also transferring the credit limit of £15,000. But he then said after 2-3 months ring up and request an account review for which they would reduce the rate accordingly in line with my Premier banking status, good BC conduct and in line with general platinum profile (but again no guarantee of a complete reduction from 29% down to 18% for new customers).
Do you think that these two options are accurate in how they have portrayed this to me?
A personal third option for me is I can repay the card in full now, close the card thus freeing up limit on my credit file, wait a few months and then going to another bank/company and apply for a new card for which I would be a new customer.
many thanks.
I currently have a Barclaycard Initial - have had since 2010 and limit is £15,000
Interest is obviously high at around 29%
Current balance is around £4,000
Recently got upgraded to Barclays Premier Banking and during a call with a relationship manager I said the Initial BC no longer suits me (far better cards externally given my credit profile). He put me through to the BC team who said I couldn't apply for a Platinum since I'm not a new customer. They said my options were to either:
1. pay off BC initial, close initial, wait 6 months, and apply for BC platinum for which I would get same intro offers + rate as a new customer, but no guarantee that the credit limit would be £15,000
2. get BC team to transfer me from initial to platinum internally instantly with no application, but getting no new customer benefits and having the same high rate of 29%. but also transferring the credit limit of £15,000. But he then said after 2-3 months ring up and request an account review for which they would reduce the rate accordingly in line with my Premier banking status, good BC conduct and in line with general platinum profile (but again no guarantee of a complete reduction from 29% down to 18% for new customers).
Do you think that these two options are accurate in how they have portrayed this to me?
A personal third option for me is I can repay the card in full now, close the card thus freeing up limit on my credit file, wait a few months and then going to another bank/company and apply for a new card for which I would be a new customer.
many thanks.
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Comments
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....which begs the obvious question of why you'd be paying 29% interest on £4K (i.e. £1160/year) if you don't have to?OverExposed wrote: »Interest is obviously high at around 29%
Current balance is around £4,000
[...]
I can repay the card in full now0 -
....which begs the obvious question of why you'd be paying 29% interest on £4K (i.e. £1160/year) if you don't have to?
that assumes the balance is always 4k... FYI the balance fluctuates wildly depending on my spending and my repayments. my point was stating the balance of today for information purposes. so as to give the reader information - i am neither 0 balance nor am i at a maxed balance paying the minimum.
perhaps focus on giving good advise as opposed to miserable opinions about cash savings vs debts... not everyone lives in a world where every last penny of interest is viewed negatively.0 -
OverExposed wrote: »Hi all,
I currently have a Barclaycard Initial - have had since 2010 and limit is £15,000
Interest is obviously high at around 29%
Current balance is around £4,000
Recently got upgraded to Barclays Premier Banking and during a call with a relationship manager I said the Initial BC no longer suits me (far better cards externally given my credit profile). He put me through to the BC team who said I couldn't apply for a Platinum since I'm not a new customer. They said my options were to either:
1. pay off BC initial, close initial, wait 6 months, and apply for BC platinum for which I would get same intro offers + rate as a new customer, but no guarantee that the credit limit would be £15,000
2. get BC team to transfer me from initial to platinum internally instantly with no application, but getting no new customer benefits and having the same high rate of 29%. but also transferring the credit limit of £15,000. But he then said after 2-3 months ring up and request an account review for which they would reduce the rate accordingly in line with my Premier banking status, good BC conduct and in line with general platinum profile (but again no guarantee of a complete reduction from 29% down to 18% for new customers).
Do you think that these two options are accurate in how they have portrayed this to me?
A personal third option for me is I can repay the card in full now, close the card thus freeing up limit on my credit file, wait a few months and then going to another bank/company and apply for a new card for which I would be a new customer.
many thanks.
I hope you're not paying for this Barclays Premier Banking because they clearly don't even know their own policies.
You are allowed to have 2 Barclaycards. Jesus it's even on their website!
https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/customer/get-another-barclaycard
Apply for any of their cards, then once you have been approved, assuming your credit limit is low, all you need to do is call them and ask them to split your limit from your Initial card over to the new one.
Personally I don't see why you don't just apply elsewhere for a balance transfer card, clear your Barclaycard balance, then apply for a new Barclaycard as above (e.g. their 0% purchases) and split limit etc. so the new card would have a high limit and then close your Initial account.I'm a Board Guide on the Credit Cards, Loans, Credit Files & Ratings boards. I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly, and I can move and merge threads there. Any views are mine and not the official line of moneysavingexpert.com0 -
Suit yourself - my view is that paying 29% interest is rarely a good idea if avoidable (and hence my valid question about why you'd choose to do so) but you obviously know more about your finances than anyone else on here and you're quite entitled to disagree with my opinion (or even dismiss it as 'miserable' if you must), just as I'm entitled to express it in the first place. Good luck with whatever you choose to do....OverExposed wrote: »perhaps focus on giving good advise as opposed to miserable opinions about cash savings vs debts... not everyone lives in a world where every last penny of interest is viewed negatively.0 -
Suit yourself - my view is that paying 29% interest is rarely a good idea if avoidable (and hence my valid question about why you'd choose to do so) but you obviously know more about your finances than anyone else on here and you're quite entitled to disagree with my opinion (or even dismiss it as 'miserable' if you must), just as I'm entitled to express it in the first place. Good luck with whatever you choose to do....
valid point and rightly so, and correct. however i was simply stating the latest balance. i try to avoid having any balance on this card at all given the interest, the card is useful because of its limit, not so useful in having a balance.
but as mentioned you are correct in what you say - thanks.0 -
Candyapple wrote: »I hope you're not paying for this Barclays Premier Banking because they clearly don't even know their own policies.
You are allowed to have 2 Barclaycards. Jesus it's even on their website!
https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/customer/get-another-barclaycard
Apply for any of their cards, then once you have been approved, assuming your credit limit is low, all you need to do is call them and ask them to split your limit from your Initial card over to the new one.
Personally I don't see why you don't just apply elsewhere for a balance transfer card, clear your Barclaycard balance, then apply for a new Barclaycard as above (e.g. their 0% purchases) and split limit etc. so the new card would have a high limit and then close your Initial account.
Thanks.
I told them this, they said I could apply for a new platinum BC card and have the second Barclaycard but for some reason they would not be willing to split the limit over as it a different product with different terms.
assuming my initial will be clear as of the next statement, im stuck with a £15k card with a high interest rate.
I would prefer not to clear and close the initial because of its limit - it would have a negative short term impact to my credit file and I cant guaranttee that a new platinum BC or external CC would give me such a good limit.0 -
OverExposed wrote: »Thanks.
I told them this, they said I could apply for a new platinum BC card and have the second Barclaycard but for some reason they would not be willing to split the limit over as it a different product with different terms.
assuming my initial will be clear as of the next statement, im stuck with a £15k card with a high interest rate.
I would prefer not to clear and close the initial because of its limit - it would have a negative short term impact to my credit file and I cant guaranttee that a new platinum BC or external CC would give me such a good limit.
Well clearly you were talking to a numpty who like I said, don't know their own policies. With Barclaycard sometimes you have to call back several times before you speak to someone with a brain.
I have split my limit with them before, I know there was a thread here this year where someone else did it and oh look, here's a thread from 2013 confirming the same:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4801252
What's the point of having a high limit if it offers you no benefits?I'm a Board Guide on the Credit Cards, Loans, Credit Files & Ratings boards. I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly, and I can move and merge threads there. Any views are mine and not the official line of moneysavingexpert.com0 -
Barclaycard definitely do allow you to change limits between cards that are different. They called it "credit realignment" - I did it last month!
I have the Barclaycard Cashback card and I applied for the Platinum Travel Card last month.
I was given a low £400 limit on the Travel Card... I rang them up and asked to swap £2,000 of my £9,000 limit from my Cashback Card to the Travel Card.
They originally asked me questions on salary etc. and basically said "computer said no because it's only just been opened, wait 4 months". I asked to speak to a manager because I didn't want to raise my credit, merely move it.
The guy went away and I never spoke to the manager because he authorized the swap there and then. Took a day to show on my online banking.0 -
Apply for 0% balance transfer card elsewhere with no transfer fee.
Clear off the Barclaycard ASAP.
Loyalty to Barclays really doesn't pay and they've proven it.0 -
Candyapple wrote: »I hope you're not paying for this Barclays Premier Banking because they clearly don't even know their own policies.
You are allowed to have 2 Barclaycards. Jesus it's even on their website!
You can even have 3.
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