Barclay Card Help

willLeeds

My girl friend recently applied for a credit card while we both moving house she got a Barclay Card Initial, not a huge limit just to see her over with the expenses of moving.

I have some adverse credit on my account (Had them for 5 years now) and learnt the hard way. So im pretty anal about her not making the same mistake as me. She set her direct debit to minimum payment and when she received her first payment i insisted she paid just a little over (As people advice you do to on here) i lent her my card to pay an additional £20.

Today she received a letter saying she was being charged £12 for going over her limit. On inspection the Minimum Payment wasn't taken, just the additional £20.

When she spoke to Barclay Card they said because she had paid the additional money it had cancelled her direct debit, then the interest had taken her over her limit.

Im really confused by this, i have a capital one card and an Aqua, both impeccable both pay extra each month along with the minimum.

The lady at Barclays said that in order for her to pay extra each month she has to pay within three days of her payment date???

Anyone else had problems like this? Have we done something wrong or have Barclay Card messed up?

We did everything with the best intention so really angry about the situation.

tinkerbell28

I *think* with barclaycard. The minimum payment gets adjusted and it says it will be reduced by payments that are received after the bill date.

So she paid £20, then did she spend that £20 plus what she thought min payment would be?

Davie2909

Why dont you advise your Girlfriend to pay by bank transfer? That way she can pay what she likes rather than the minimum payment being taken

grumbler

willLeeds wrote: »

...when she received her first payment i insisted she paid just a little over (As people advice you do to on here) i lent her my card to pay an additional £20. ...

Davie2909 wrote: »

Why dont you advise your Girlfriend to pay by bank transfer? That way she can pay what she likes rather than the minimum payment being taken

How is a bank transfer better than a debit card payment?

Buzby

Because you fully control what you paid and when. You are not relying on a third party to 'take' what they believe you owe. Mistakes happen - if you do it yourself, unless totally hapless, you know what it happening in real time!

bengal-stripe

Some CC (like MBNA) take a DD regardless of any additional payments, others adjust (or cancel) a DD in line with any payments received. You just have to know how your particular card operates and play accordingly.

In this case where the bank adjusts, pay whatever you want to pay early and let the DD get cancelled. In the other case, pay what you want to pay, less the amount of the DD, knowing this will be taken several days later.

Yes, life would be easier if all CC operated the same way.

SnowTiger

willLeeds wrote: »

When she spoke to Barclay Card they said because she had paid the additional money it had cancelled her direct debit, then the interest had taken her over her limit.

Im really confused by this, i have a capital one card and an Aqua, both impeccable both pay extra each month along with the minimum.

The lady at Barclays said that in order for her to pay extra each month she has to pay within three days of her payment date???

If I were your girlfriend (LOL), I'd kick up a bit of a fuss about this. Probably by making a polite complaint in writing, then taking it further if they won't play ball.

From http://ask.barclaycard.co.uk/help/account/2_pay_bill/minimum:

If I pay the minimum amount by Direct Debit, can I make additional payments online when I want to?

Yes, you can pay additional payments via debit card online (maximum payment restrictions apply.)

An additional payment is, well, an additional payment. It's a payment in addition to the minimum DD payment and not instead of it.

melbell

Does the statement say the payment will be taken by direct debit?

ic

What was the value of the interest charged and the minimum payment amount (that wasn't taken)? Normally the minimum payment should always be sufficient to cover the interest charge to bring the balance down (even if only by a few pence). However, if they've not taken the direct debit because of the £20 payment, that must mean the minimum was less than £20. Was the card used for a payment in the mean time after the statement date (because of the expectation that the minimum direct debit payment would also be taken?), pushing the card over the limit?

ic

melbell wrote: »

Does the statement say the payment will be taken by direct debit?

If I log into the barclaycard website, it says on my card's summary screen:

If you make a payment now, we may adjust the amount we collect later via Direct Debit.

. So it doesn't matter if the statement says the payment is by direct debit, if I pay in the mean time, they might not take the direct debit - as was the case of the OPs girlfriend.

SnowTiger

ic wrote: »

If I log into the barclaycard website, it says on my card's summary screen:

If you make a payment now, we may adjust the amount we collect later via Direct Debit.

. So it doesn't matter if the statement says the payment is by direct debit, if I pay in the mean time, they might not take the direct debit - as was the case of the OPs girlfriend.

That's very loose language.

And what makes you think what's on their website takes precedence over what's printed on the statement?

I guess the answer lays somewhere in the T&C? However, IMO, this and what I highlighted muddies the waters and cases enough confusion to raise a legitimate dispute.