Barclays Have Automatically Upgraded Me To A Premier Account

Cranston_Snord

I have received a letter from Barclays this morning (it is authentic - correct address and account numbers) telling me that my account has been automatically 'upgraded' to a 'Premier' account.

I also have a beautiful glossy brochure welcoming me as a Premier Customer ! Yet
I have only £2,000 of savings with them and earn around £16,000 per year.

Everything I read on the web suggests that Barclays recently closed 250,000 premier accounts after stating that their customers were not earning £75,000 per year and were therefore not entitled to them.

Has anyone else been offered the dubious privilege of an automatic upgrade to a 'Premier' account ?

(I've been told that I will be getting a special 'black' visa debit card - I can hardly wait !!!)

[Deleted User]

Doesn't sound like it changes anything for you. I'd keep the letter though, just in case.

joncombe

Cranston_Snord wrote: »

Has anyone else been offered the dubious privilege of an automatic upgrade to a 'Premier' account ?

Yes I got this and I don't think I met the criteria either. I think they waived the fee although I'm not sure if it was permenant or just for the first year. In any case I was already in the process of closing the account so I didn't really care.

benjus

joncombe wrote: »

I think they waived the fee

There's no fee on the Premier account (unless you select any paid-for extras like insurance packages). It does come with some nice freebies though - e.g. one free hot drink every day at Patisserie Valerie (and an extra free one for a friend on Sat/Sun), free entry to English Heritage sites, Picturehouse cinema membership, and a few others.

Paul_1977

They sent me a premier chequebook, hardly anything in the account. Do not earn anything near requirement. very nice to look at, but service was dire as they closed local branch, won't be going back to that bank.

GTR_King

is it happening to quite a few people? I have got nothing so far..

Or is it an error etc??

ChiefGrasscutter

Paul_1977 wrote: »

They sent me a premier chequebook, hardly anything in the account. Do not earn anything near requirement. very nice to look at, but service was dire as they closed local branch, won't be going back to that bank.

I'm curious in today day of telephone banking, internet banking, mobile phone/app banking plus telephone help lines why exactly anyone would want to go into a bank branch?
All the staff are just sales staff these days, they cannot anymore actually 'do' anything unlike in the "old days" of branch manager with executive decision making capacity.

Indeed of the new challenger banks being set up to complete with the likes of Barclays one I believe is going to be an app only interface.

Eco_Miser

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

I'm curious in today day of telephone banking, internet banking, mobile phone/app banking plus telephone help lines why exactly anyone would want to go into a bank branch?

Deposit cash,
deposit cheque,
obtain cash (not essential but sometimes convenient),
hand in an R85 (not going to happen again).
Those are the reasons I've visited a branch in the last several years.
Depositing cash is the one that needs a branch of some kind.

Cranston_Snord

GTR_King wrote: »

is it happening to quite a few people? I have got nothing so far..

Or is it an error etc??

. . . . I'm not sure how many people are getting offered the new account but I will keep a look out in the press and will post here if I get any more information.

book12

Cranston Snord,

Perhaps you can call them on our behalf why they upgraded you, and if the qualifying criteria has changed, etc...

Paul_1977

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

I'm curious in today day of telephone banking, internet banking, mobile phone/app banking plus telephone help lines why exactly anyone would want to go into a bank branch?
All the staff are just sales staff these days, they cannot anymore actually 'do' anything unlike in the "old days" of branch manager with executive decision making capacity.

Indeed of the new challenger banks being set up to complete with the likes of Barclays one I believe is going to be an app only interface.

My main reason is to pay in cash, I often have to do this four or five times a month now. I just use paying in slips as there are no banks near me I want to use.

I have registered with Atom bank.