Barclays Merchant Services - who gets the interest?

G&M's_Mum_2

Sorry, more one for small businesses, but we're all moneysavers here!

I run a small bridal boutique and, in my rush to get the credit card facilities up and running, foolishly opted for Barclays Merchant Services without reading the small print. I'm now stuck in a 3-year contract (approx halfway through) and Barclays will not release money paid to me through any form of credit/debit card for a whopping 45 DAYS :eek:. As anyone who's run a business knows, cashflow is imperative and Barclays are killing mine.

Thankfully I'm now a member of the Federation of Small Businesses :A and I'm going to swap providers to Streamline who are much cheaper. Will still have to pay the rest of the contract out though.

The upshot of all this is: does anyone know who gets the 45 days' interest on this money and, more importantly, shouldn't it belong to my business? I did raise it over the phone with one of Barclays' assistants but was fobbed off with 'oh, nobody gets any interest from it, it just sits there'. Now call me old-fashioned, but even I know that people with cash sitting there want to make the best of it, so I would have thought that a multinational business like Barclays won't exactly be shoving it under the mattress. Are there any banking/legal geniuses out there who can give any answers? I'd love to know!

Thanks in advance

jamalfatty

My guess (and thats all it is) is that they are correct and the money would sit in a suspense account which dont earn interest - banks do same with missing payments etc. They probably do this to ensure money is cleared and no chargebacks etc go against it.

G&M's_Mum_2

Thanks for that, makes sense.

Amazing that Streamline can give me money in 4 days (as can Amex) and still sort out their chargebacks, but Barclays refuse point blank to give any leeway on 45 days - if you're on 30-day credit with your suppliers then you are royally stuffed. Thankfully I won't be with Barclays for much longer, but if anyone's thinking of setting up a business, join the Federation of Small Businesses and apply for their Streamline account - DO NOT APPLY TO BARCLAYS MERCHANT SERVICES!!!!