Barclays bank - very impressed.

Bloomberg

I have recently moved my main bank from HSBC to Barclays. I already had a second account with Barclays and realised over a period of time that they offer much more than HSBC. The mobile banking app and the iPad app are superb. The HSBC fast balance app is nothing compared to these. The text alerts are much better and I also like the facility to look at statements in PDF format.



I rarely use the branches however on the rare occasion that I have the service has been very good. Not having to fill out paying in slips was a time saver. It would be interesting to know what other readers think of Barclays and how other banks compare.

innovate

Barclays is the one UK bank I have no current account with. I never saw anything from them that seemed compelling enough to open an account there.

baggers02

Like the other poster, I have never had an account with Barclays - I am with Natwest, and I don't have to fill out paying in slips to, just bang the card into the card reader, enter your pin and the rest is done for you.

Organist

It's the same with Santander no paying in slip required - not really a strong selling point for Barclays:)

pmduk

Opening my account with Barclays was a nightmare, but once open and up and running, I've not had a moment's problem. Branch staff attitudes vary hugely between branches

Gromitt

I had a Barclays account, eventually closed it through non-use as I didn't see any point in keeping it. The time that I wanted to talk to them about their mortgage offers didn't go down very well - they made an appointment, I turned up a few minutes early and was told to take a seat, after 30 minutes I was told "He'll be with you shortly", after 45 minutes I complained and was told to leave my paperwork and they'll look over it when they can.

Overall I wasn't impressed !

Thinking about it now, I should have kept it open - it would have made a perfect account for switching, although I had already used it a few times for that purpose, so maybe a 3rd time would be pushing it a little!

nuks

I'm a Barclays fan too, it's my main acct (I also have the Halifax Reward as my 2nd account and recently got the First Direct for the £100 bonus- but I'm planning to keep Barclays as my main acct). And I 'manage' my mum's Metro Bank acct online - that's the worst of all.


ps. Forgot to say, I have a Barclays acct that's no longer available to new customers, Barclays Crt Acct Plus - overdraft, mobile phone insurance, extented warranty for domestic appliances, and gadget insurance for £6.50/month, I believe it's not a bad deal.

ColdIron

I'm a big fan of Barclays OLB, it's the best of all the ones I've tried which is why I use it as my primary account to service all my other ones

The daily Faster Payments limit can be a bit irritating but for high value transactions I'm actually happier to do this using CHAPS in branch as it means someone else is checking the details and they do because any mistakes, other than me suppling incorrect information, and it's down to them
I've got an old Platinum account which waives the £25 CHAPS fee which is very handy as I find myself doing several of these a year

Their other products aren't up to much and their telephone Customer Service leaves a bit to be desired, they still rely heavily on Indian call centers, but I rarely have to use it

But as a current account I find it tip-top, rock solid servicing, not a single problem in over 35 years, I wouldn't dream of changing

JuicyJesus

Their service is OK, and technologically they're quite advanced - their Internet banking for example is very good. Their telephone banking has the situation though where the staff tell you what you want to hear, or what will get you off the phone quickly, rather than what is actually correct. I once had a simple query and received three different answers to the same question, only one of which was even remotely correct. (Same goes for Barclaycard actually.) Branch service has been good though.

Basically - eh, they're alright. Non-existent interest or other bonuses, but frankly I don't care about them as much as I do about running my current account competently.

TheEffect

I'm with First Direct and don't hold an account with Barclays, but two features I like of theirs are:

The PINSentry is implemented within a mobile app.

Barclays now offer on-the-spot debit cards if you need one quickly.

RupertTheCat

I worked for Barclays for a year and it was one of the most depressing experiences in my life. And I was in the IT section. Never have I worked for a bank that cared so little for its staff or customers, and I've worked for several banks.

After that I would not bank with Barclays ever again in my life.