Barclaycard and limit increases

T-G-C

I tried to increase and was told I have to wait 24 months from account opening to be considered on their Initial card. One of the more stranger conditions I have seen bearing such an extensive period of time. It is a good thing I checked rather than waited for them, as it would have been a long wait indeed.

I understand the Initial card is for people building or repairing their credit, but making them wait 24 months to reward good account management or improvement in credit since the original limit was assigned is ludicrous.

A4445

Even capital one increases are better than waiting 24 months :rotfl:

T-G-C

A4445 wrote: »

Even capital one increases are better than waiting 24 months :rotfl:

Capital One are another strange bunch. They will not approve increases most of the time, but will allow you to open another account. If you are eligible for a new card, it means the current credit limit on your first account isn't maxing out your credit score with them, so wouldn't it make sense to offer the increase on the card you already have rather than making you open a second one and then consolidate to get back to the first step? It also puts an empty settled account on your report for 6 years which looks strange to other lenders.

d_rok69

Hi

I have the same issue. Have an initial card for three months which i use for work expenses i tried to increase the limit online and it says i have to wait two years.

So going by some of the posts here i called and asked if they would consider and increase and they said no i had to wait two years she even double checked when i said to her im on this website and there are instances of people getting increases in 4 - 5 months and she said no two years.

Pretty annoying i pay this card in full every month i even run up and pay off a few times in the month before my statement is even produces.

[Deleted User]

I have a Barclaycard Freedom Rewards card, not an Initial card, and mine says the same thing in the app and online when trying to request a limit increase

"There are many reasons that could prevent us from raising a credit limit. We can’t raise yours because we can't review the credit limit on this type of card until you've had it for 2 years."

2ilent8cho

I got my Barclaycard Initial in Dec 2016 , it was £500, then £800, then £1200, now its £1600 limit. All in less than 2 years. First limit increase was a letter from them after about 4 months, others have been me requesting them via the website. So obviously some inconsistency as i have not had to wait 2 years.

bradderslondon

I have the initial card too.

I've had a few £10 promos come through on it which have pushed me into a negative balance. When I opened it in February I was given an £800 limit. I've had no increases since. It's never gone over limit but has come within £10 of it once. Most of the time though it has been paid off in full each month. I just used change limit button on the app and it said that they could only decrease the limit.

I do have four other cards (two were used towards the cost of a new motorbike and had long 0% rates. Crucially, the mbna card offered this for account transfer which allowed me to borrow £4000 on that card for a total cost of £120 over three years. Clydesdale card paid the deposit, part of the cost (the dealerships credit card limit) and the insurance up front.

I also took out an amazon classic and an amazon platinum for the free vouchers. Both have limits of £500. Newday recently cancelled the classic card saying they shouldn't have given me both.

The last card I have is a tesco foundation card. This is the only card I have any experience of having limit increases on. My limit started at £250 in April 2017. In October that year they sent me a letter telling me that will increase it to £600. This then didn't happen and I received a letter tellin me that they changed their mind due to circumstance change. I'd changed the direct debit date and they messed the process up which led to a late payment charge. This then put me over the limit. To be fair to Tesco they asked me what would solve the problem ( I said make sure they stop it happening to others, fix my account history, refund charges etc) and they did all that, gave me the increase, and put £50 into my current account.

The Barclaycard has been a good everyday card and is useful for security deposits in hotels etc. The Amazon card is only just useable for that but the amazon points are handy. I drive far too many miles for work and it is good to get the points on the amazon and Tesco cards for work travel expenses. The initial card has no such benefits and the interest rate would certainly put me off carrying a balance on it.

As it stands I'm using £6700 of an overall £9200 limit (dropping at a rate of £150 a month and will be £400 per month from May next year). It would be good to get a limit increase to reduce my percentage utilisation but I'm lucky that it's not particularly pressing. But I can certainly relate to the frustration, especially as they advertised that increases were part of how the establishing credit function worked. Tesco reviews roughly every six months and gives a small reward on top so Barclays should up their game.

[Deleted User]

Hate_stupidity. wrote: »

To All initial (forward) Barclaycard holders hello!

I can advise you to call customer service and ask if you qualify for upgrading your card to Barclaycard platinum or Barclaycard Freedom rewards, if you do as I were, then don't think you will get a new limit or new APR because you don't, you stay with the same account with the same limit and APR, but you get a new card with the new shiny design and most important with the all other benefits of this cards and ask them if the 2 first years block of limit increasing request will lift away with the new benefits, this kind of upgrade not have impact on your credit rating as it's not Cary a hard credit check, and also it's remain at the same account on your credit file (although the card number will change) which is also a good thing, because new accounts on credit file damage your score more than a hard credit check at Experian at least.
Good luck.
And don't forget to update us all how it is going. And if it was helpful this idea.

Well for a start BC don't offer the Freedom Rewards account anymore for new or upgrading/existing customers.

And secondly any mention of a score or rating with Experian or any other CRA for that matter is twaddle.

cymruchris

Barclaycard have many different rules for many different people - no one size fits all.

You can have the same card as your neighbour - but have different terms applied in terms of if and when you get credit limit increases, or even whether you get to use the card on Apple pay.