Barclays' system of daily overdraft fees

Milarky

It looks like I've been charged daily amounts just for using my overdraft over weekends (Sat/Sun) since this daily fee came in in mid June.

During the week I move my overdraft out after the day-to-next-day 'cutoff' of 6:30pm and replace monies into the account the following morning. This escapes the daily fee Monday to Friday but for Saturday and Sunday the account remains overdrawn until Monday and get credited on Monday before 6:30pm again. Just going by my statement balances alone, my account is never visibly 'overdrawn'.

I've tried asking Barclays whether paying an outstanding overdraft on (say) Saturday means a customer won't be charged a daily fee for the next day, Sunday, given such a credit will be dated 'Monday' and there is no way to give it its actual date. But they just don't seem to get it.

Just going by the new overdraft information available, is there any way of telling how the overdraft should be treated if used for part of a weekend?

(I might guess that the program built to implement the daily fee charging 'polls' the account balance at 6:31pm every 24 hours. That would allow my Monday to Friday balances to escape a fee but not my balances at 6:31pm on Saturday and 6:31pm on Sunday. This method does not rely on a statement balance but a running daily one - including weekends and bank holidays and would permit Saturday repayment of the outstanding balance to prevent being charged for that day and ditto for Sunday)

Thanks for your patience.

See http://www.barclays.co.uk/Helpsupport/Personaloverdraftfees/P1242562460906

How and when fees will be taken from your account
Fees will be taken from your account monthly
Overdraft and Emergency Borrowing daily fees are calculated on the daily statement balance

(which is always at '0.00'.. and so 'weekend' daily fees would be incorrect?)

Side note to Premier Account customers: you now have an interest-free and fee-free overdraft of £1000 (but don't go over that figure or the daily fee goes straight to £1.50!)

meer53

I'm not surprised Barclays don't get it either. Why do you use this convoluted way of banking ? Why not just make sure there is enough money in the account to avoid the daily fee ?

Where did you get the 6.30 cut off time from ?

Milarky

meer53 wrote: »

I'm not surprised Barclays don't get it either. Why do you use this convoluted way of banking ? Why not just make sure there is enough money in the account to avoid the daily fee ?

Where did you get the 6.30 cut off time from ?

I got that time from noting the date applied by Barclays themselves to my online statement transactions in 'real time'. It's also probably given somewhere on their 'help' pages, such as this one:

http://www.barclays.co.uk/MobileBankingservices/TextAlertstermsandconditions/P1242633605750

Actually that rather suggest my theory of the same cutoff 7 out of 7 days does apply


(Anything more constructive?)

meer53

Milarky wrote: »

I got that time from noting the date applied by Barclays themselves to my online statement transactions in 'real time'. It's also probably given somewhere on their 'help' pages, such as this one:

http://www.barclays.co.uk/MobileBankingservices/TextAlertstermsandconditions/P1242633605750

Actually that rather suggest my theory of the same cutoff 7 out of 7 days does apply


(Anything more constructive?)

Probably ? I don't have anything more constructive, don't think anyone else does at the moment either.

I must be missing something as i still don't understand why you do this.

I work for a bank, our cut off is 11.45 pm for payments into the account.

colsten

OP's 'strategy' sounds like the financial version of self-harm.

double-slit

You are right,they are making more money out of these charges.
When I am £1 over my overdraft I am charged 0.75p.
My daughter incurs the max charge 0.75x30 days approx £22.50 per month.
Barclays have just written to me after making a error in calculating my fee,this has make me think why,considering computers work this out.
The other thing is i have monthly statement but the charges appear on the 21th of the month.
I wonder how many MSE members have been effected by this?

mgdavid

double-slit wrote: »

..........I wonder how many MSE members have been effected by this?

the only ones affected are those who haven't yet worked out how to live within their means.