Bank account options whilst insolvent - Guide

TheGardener

Barclaycard is not technically the same as Barclays Bank. It is illegal to off set after BR but if you owe Barclays in its widest sense, then be careful what you put into the account pre-BR.

Yes - the personalised card is a (free) thing - I have a lovely bright green lizard on one and a pig on another Having opened 3 Barclays accounts to enable simple budgeting (and 1 used only for online purchases) the personalised thing means I don't have 3 identical cards that get mixed up.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not some sort of evangelical Barclays promoter - but they have served me well over the past 3 years. Their text alerts and balances in the days when BR's were not given access to internet banking were really useful.

TheGardener

london1973 wrote: »

Also, lazy to ask as usual, but does Barclays basic offer online and contactless and is BASIC splattered all over their card-want to avoid obvious giveaways in a professional environment!

Yes, yes and no. It looks like any other bank card with a visa debit logo - unless you go for the personalised version which looks however you want!

amyjaj

london1973 wrote: »

I think I am going to go for Barclays, need to get on with it and concerned if I downgrade to lloyds basic before my current lloyds account is formally closed (which still hasn't happened 1 month later) they will just close the basic account instead,

Can I be as near to 100% certain as possible that Barclays won't swipe any funds of mine given I had 30k barclaycard in my BR- note this is h.unlikely and prob illegal but nothing seems to be impossible in BR

Also, lazy to ask as usual, but does Barclays basic offer online and contactless and is BASIC splattered all over their card-want to avoid obvious giveaways in a professional environment!

No, Barclays basic bank account does not come with a contactless card it however comes with online banking. You can personalise your Barclays debit card though. Barclays debit cards do not state what account you have on it.

alltaken

amyjaj wrote: »

No, Barclays basic bank account does not come with a contactless card it however comes with online banking. You can personalise your Barclays debit card though. Barclays debit cards do not state what account you have on it.

You can ask your branch for a contactless card.

TheGardener

I have contactless Barclays - didn't even need to ask, they just sent me one.

london1973

Thanks Gardener for all your posts, I am post BR by about a month so presume I am 100% safe with Barclays vis a vis my historical debt with barclaycard?
Also interested to here you have 3 accounts with Barclays?
Thanks!

alltaken

Sometimes with Barclays it is not automatic, just letting those without contactless know it's available to them.

TheGardener

london1973 wrote: »

... I am post BR by about a month so presume I am 100% safe with Barclays vis a vis my historical debt with barclaycard?
Also interested to here you have 3 accounts with Barclays?
Thanks!

There are lots of posters who have had previous debts with Barclays but do now have basic accounts with them. Obviously they can not off set any historical debt after BR. I learned on this forum that I could apply for more than 1 - it was positively encouraged as a means of budgeting 'blind' without internet banking and my local branch were happy to oblige. I also discovered that you can ask for weekly paper bank statements which at the time was really useful as combined with the text alerts gave me as much info as I needed. I soon discovered that my daily (often several times a day) log on to internet banking was a symptom of my debt - constant fear and juggling to pay a bit here and a bit there. It was actually a huge relief when I didn't have internet banking as it had been a major part of the debt stress.

london1973

thanks, interesting take on internet banking, I can kind of see it, it can become quite obsessional