Barclaycard

Daft_Monkey

M_Thomson wrote:

I disagree when it comes to using them for Balance transfers they have had some great rates. I got 0% for the life of Balance only having to make a purchase of 1p a month. I also have been offered 2.9% for the life of the balance and other offers. Agree with you they are crap for purchase rates, but for balance transfers for existing customers they are pretty good.

By all means, I don't think there's anything wrong with taking advantage of BT offers or any other other offers from any bank or credit card that can save us money. Managing to spend 1p on the credit card might be a bit tricky though.They currently have a 0% BT no fee offer, as long as you apply for the card at a branch.

M_Thomson wrote:

You could do a lot better, Alliance and Leicester have a 5% current account and 10% regular saver.

I do have the A&L current and regular saver accounts, the barclays account is just for payments and for funding other accounts.

grex9101

The problem I have is that my poor credit rating precludes me from getting a card to BT to. So, im stuffed.

I'm gonna be ok, sure, another £30-£50 a month ain't gonna put me on the breadline, but a lot of people aren't gonna be so fortunate.

Barclays may have scored an own goal with this-people who were previously just managing to make repayments will now default and go on a DMP or opt for bankruptcy = MORE BAD DEBT!!!


stupid bloody company

steve!_10

CTT wrote:

Thanks to all of the disorganised people out there we all have to suffer.

I'm not one of those disorganised people, but don't sweat it. New and lower offers will keep being introduced because the market is so competitive. You know what you should do? Change card if you don't like it. There's always another card company willing to charge a lower rate if it means they can get more business. What they could have done was just make less profit (I ain't ever seen a poor bank manager), but they decided against that and thought their valued customers should pay to keep them in their yachts and helicopters instead.

Vote. With. Your. Feet. :j

linda-ann

Rang barclaycard spoke to a nice guy who reduced my interest on mt standard balance to as low as they can go 9.9% but unfortunately they can not reduce the interest on the cash balance even though they have asked but are not allowed.We are right he says to make up for the changes in charges we have to suffer for those that default.I think if they increased charges for late payments etc. instead of reducing them it might make them pay on time .

Rafter

Linda-ann,

Is there any way you can transfer the whole balance off your Barclaycard to another card?

Like most card companies (except Nationwide) Barclaycard will always pay off your low interest balance first, so any cash withdrawls will stay there indefinately at very high rates unless you pay off in full.

This type of 'trick' is totally unfair but once one company does it, the others almost have to follow suit to keep their APRs competitive.

If anyone from the Office of fair trading is reading this (or an englightened card company executive) perhaps you could introduce the following rules industry wide:

1. A minimum payment of 5% - this is a credit card for short term borrowing not a 20 year loan which is how long it will take to repay if you just pay the minimum.

2. The same interest rate for cash and purchases with a 1% cash withdrawl fee - there is no reason (except to make additional profits) why the rates should be any different.

3. A maximum combined limit across an individuals credit cards of 20% of their annual income. Any limit above this would be unenforceable.

4. No risk based pricing - just risk based limits or no card at all if an individual can't handle credit.

5. Amnesty for anyone who currently has more than 75% of their annual income after tax in unsecured debt, with 50% converted to a 10 year repayment loan at say 5% interest to get them back on track.


We moneysavers love our credit cards - we get cashback on our shopping, we make £1000's in interest from stoozing but only because the industry is broken and for every customer like us there is someone less fortunate paying huge amounts of their income to service debt.

This is just wrong!

R.

Milarky

Rafter wrote:

If anyone from the Office of fair trading is reading this (or an englightened card company executive) perhaps you could introduce the following rules industry wide:

1. A minimum payment of 5% - this is a credit card for short term borrowing not a 20 year loan which is how long it will take to repay if you just pay the minimum.

2. The same interest rate for cash and purchases with a 1% cash withdrawl fee - there is no reason (except to make additional profits) why the rates should be any different.

3. A maximum combined limit across an individuals credit cards of 20% of their annual income. Any limit above this would be unenforceable.

4. No risk based pricing - just risk based limits or no card at all if an individual can't handle credit.

5. Amnesty for anyone who currently has more than 75% of their annual income after tax in unsecured debt, with 50% converted to a 10 year repayment loan at say 5% interest to get them back on track.


We moneysavers love our credit cards - we get cashback on our shopping, we make £1000's in interest from stoozing but only because the industry is broken and for every customer like us there is someone less fortunate paying huge amounts of their income to service debt.

This is just wrong!

R.

This is too drastic rafter. For that reason alone it will not happen. If you wanted to end up at this position there would at least have to an 'orderly exit'. Minimum payments would go up gradually every twelve months - from 2 to 2.5 to 3 percent (and so on.) Of course all this debt is technically 'payable on demand' just as is you current account negative balance (overdraft) and your mortgage too. No one seriously expects any bank to have to call on these provisions - but the're there. They simply aren't enforced. Arguably leaving it to the banks to shoe-in over exhuberance it the better bet. The OFT can always come along later and press for more progress. Meanwhile by exploiting the loopholes we stoozers are actually trying to get the banks to notice these and close them one at at a time, giving everyone more equal treatment. Debt will therefore end up a bit more restrictive but still comparatively available I feel.

Rafter

Milarky wrote:

This is too drastic rafter. For that reason alone it will not happen. If you wanted to end up at this position there would at least have to an 'orderly exit'. Minimum payments would go up gradually every twelve months - from 2 to 2.5 to 3 percent (and so on.) Of course all this debt is technically 'payable on demand' just as is you current account negative balance (overdraft) and your mortgage too. No one seriously expects any bank to have to call on these provisions - but the're there. They simply aren't enforced. Arguably leaving it to the banks to shoe-in over exhuberance it the better bet. The OFT can always come along later and press for more progress. Meanwhile by exploiting the loopholes we stoozers are actually trying to get the banks to notice these and close them one at at a time, giving everyone more equal treatment. Debt will therefore end up a bit more restrictive but still comparatively available I feel.

Thanks for the response. Point 5 about consolidating 'excess' credit card debt into a manageable loan to unwind the current position was trying to put some balance into my options - but agree they are drastic.

Agree that stoozers are providing some sort of arbitrage and preventing the banks from having their 'income generation schemes' work all their own way.

However, I'm not sure some vague laws about 'unfair contract terms' or 'responsible lending' are enough to stop less financially literate people to sleepwalk into debt thinking that as long as banks are offering it, it must be affordable for them and they can continue to live beyond their means.

R

nickmack

They might have a case in a court of law but to my mind do not deserve a penny for being too bone headed to read the small print in the first place. When I use my bank and credit cards I am fully aware of the charges the bank will apply to me (lawful or not) if I do not adhere to the conditions.

I'm a bit suprised at this attitude on a money saving board.

Have you thought that many of the people who have reclaimed charges, were actually aware of the T&C's but were perhaps having financial problems and these breaches were unavoidable rather than friviolous disregard?
Not everyone who incurs bank charges is bad at money management.

Anyway, It's hardly fair to suggest that people are 'bone headed' if they don't fully read every set of T&C's they are ever given. Ignorance is not being used as an excuse here, but not all contracts are fair. Show me someone who claims to fully read every word of everything they've ever signed and I'll show you a liar.

Daft_Monkey

If I recall correctly the minimum payment used to be 5% a few years back, but then credit card companies realised they can make more money out of us and started reducing it. Low monthly payments are great for stoozing, but deadly for people in debt. In some instances the current minimum payment don't even cover the monthly interest, the debt is just getting bigger and bigger. It is very difficult to find a middle ground where a solution will not hurt in some way.
There is plenty of choice out there, but people with poor credit ratings are trapped. Surely it should make more sense for the credit card companies to make interest rates more affordable rather than having to plug the holes bad debts are creating.
I'm glad that some of you managed to get Barclaycard to reduce their interest on your balances, my girlfriend was not that lucky. Barclaycard refused to reduce the 27.9% interest they charge her on her outstanding balances. Interestingly enough her credit rating ain't that bad, apart from 3-4 missed payments on the credit card, which was rectified by setting up a direct debit. She has now successfully applied for a Nationwide Flex account with overdraft facility, cheque quaranteed card etc. and a Nationwide Credit Card with 4.9% for 12 months on balance transfers, and 0% on purchases for 9 months.
But the refusal by Barclays to increase her overdraft facility, even though she has a savings account with them ( just so they can charge her up to £60 for every month she goes over the limit) and the refusal by Barclaycard to reduce their interest rate made me wonder about their motives. Wouldn't be surprised that every time she walks into the branch the bank manager thinks: Here comes my bonus. I was appalled by the extent of the charges and the banks behaviour. I know that by managing her accounts better she could have avoided the charges, but as it stands the charges combined with the poor savings interest rates Barclays provides have made a serious dent into her savings, another year like this and she could have got into serious trouble. This is how banks try and sometimes succeed to ruin people...
Anyway, I appologise for veering off the subject...

linda-ann

I have a good credit rating never missed a payment but I no longer work so unlikely to get a cheaper card but, at least with the interest drop on my standard balance this will offset the new interest rate on cash purchases.
Thanks for the advice but a lot of us will now be in the same situation