MSE News: Barclaycard revamps its cashback cards: Will customers lose out?

Aquamania

Aquamania wrote: »

Article says this change takes effect on 02 May - that's only 2 weeks away now.

Anyone else still waiting to receive official notification from Barclays?

Or is it just me that will retain their 0.25% Cashback Mastercard from Barclaycard???

:huh:

Looks like Barclaycard have finally remembered me. :cool:

Got a letter today, dated last Friday. Changes do not come into effect for me until 12 June.

I won't get my new cards until 7-10 days after my June statement (I think my monthly statement is issued about the 12th), so my current card will continue to work for 30 days after June statement. Anything spent during this time on my existing card (mastercard) will earn cashback at 1% ... that's 4x what I currently earn :beer:

What it doesn't say is what happens to my existing Continuous Payment authorities. Do I need to inform the suppliers I have a new card?

Also it says I'm not supposed to use the card(s) for business purposes. (I never knew that - maybe I need to check the small print of my existing agreement again) They say business purchases will not qualify for cashback and they might recall cashback on any transactions they think are connected to business use.


Edit: Cheeky bighters! :mad:
Just got my original agreement out and the only reference it makes to business use is term 12.5

12.5 You must not use your card predominantly for business purposes

That's not the same as an occassional or incidental use. Now they say I'm not supposed to be using it at all for business use.

Chino

Aquamania wrote: »

What it doesn't say is what happens to my existing Continuous Payment authorities. Do I need to inform the suppliers I have a new card?

My letter says:
"Once you've received your new cards the only thing you'll need to do is update the payment details for any regular or online payments you've set up on your current card".

Aquamania

Chino wrote: »

My letter says:
"Once you've received your new cards the only thing you'll need to do is update the payment details for any regular or online payments you've set up on your current card".

Thanks for that. Missed that on first time of reading.

Looks like virginmedia only accept mastercard or visa, so only 1 month with 1% cashback for me on that, and then I'll be back down to a miserable 0.5% cashback

mrpointy

I phoned to complain about this today. I had the High Cashback card - the one with an annual fee, but paying bonus cashback on the top 5 transactions per month and another bonus on the top 5 transactions in the whole year. I even bought a car on the card, because the bonuses would've outweighed the transaction fee.

There were lots of hoops to jump through to get these bonuses, and I've been jumping through them as required. But now they're just withdrawing the whole account and replacing it with this double card, all the promised bonuses are being taken away and there's nothing I can do about it - apparently they retain the right to change a contract at any point!!!!!

The 1% is next to worthless, because loads of places won't take Amex, because the fees are higher, or they charge additional transaction fees. Plus, any cashback deemed by Barclaycard to be a business transaction, will get the cashback removed!

It's a disgrace - you sign up to a contract, which appears to be binding for only one party, pay for the account on the basis of promises made and it's all just cancelled without any comeback whatsoever.

The woman I spoke to on the phone said she would give me £20 as compensation for my "trouble", but I feel like taking this further now I've read this thread!

What a bunch of crooks!

Mr_K

mrpointy wrote: »

The woman I spoke to on the phone said she would give me £20 as compensation for my "trouble", but I feel like taking this further now I've read this thread!

Do take it further. The standard compensation seems to be £50 cashback and double cashback rate for 6 months, they don't take much pushing. Be very specific this is what you want, or you'll cancel. Best done by secure message rather than over the phone, save yourself 10 minutes of scripted garbage.

joncombe

I'm quite happy with this actually. I signed up for a cashback credit card years ago with Morgan Stanley and cancelled the Barclaycard I had at the time, since it did not offer cashback. I was always happy with the service, but Morgan Stanley pulled out I think and sold their cards to Barclaycard. The cash back rate has gradually dropped over the years, but still seemed to be about the best deal out there without paying the annual fee. I don't care about the interest rate, since I always pay in full each month so never pay any interest anyway.

As cashback rate started to drop I also took out an Amex card, since the cashback rate is better, but it is not so widely accepted (although I find most places accept it without charging a fee other than a few hotels, and airlines). I got a letter a few weeks back that this is going to stop paying cashback unless you spend a minimum amount each year, so was planning to cancel it.

It seems Barclaycard have killed two birds with one stone - I get an increased Cashback on the Visa card and an Amex card that pays a better rate with no minimum spend, so I will cancel my existing Amex card. I was expecting it to be another cut in the cashback when I got the letter, so pleased to see it was good news in my case, although I realise not everyone is so lucky.

Mr_K

1% cashback is nothing special, 0.5% is an insult. I've got cards that have 2% (Halifax) and 4% (Luma), plus the 1% Barclaycard and 1% Capital One (which in addition gives a £10 payout each year).

As soon as my double cashback rate for 6 months on the Barclaycard is finished, I'll be cancelling it - it'll be the least good deal of the cards of I've got.

chris1

Mr_K wrote: »

1% cashback is nothing special, 0.5% is an insult. I've got cards that have 2% (Halifax) and 4% (Luma), plus the 1% Barclaycard and 1% Capital One (which in addition gives a £10 payout each year).

Are these cards still available please?

Biggles

chris1 wrote: »

Are these cards still available please?

https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal
http://www.capitalone.co.uk/web/index.jsf

Connie

Re the CapitalOne cards mentioned in the last three posts (MrK, chris1, and Biggles) -

there's the Aspire Elite card which gives 5% cashback for the first 3 months (max £200), then "up to" 2% (it's tiered - starts at 1%) - BUT there's a charge of £120 pa;

the Aspire Business Card, which is for paying business expenses - 5% cashback for 3 months (max £100), then "up to" 1.25% (tiered - starts at 0.5%) - no annual fee;

or the Classic Extra, paying 0.5% cashback (plus £10 pa if you've paid on time all year); no annual fee.