Barclays Blue Rewards - any pitfalls which I need to know about?

RetSol

In response to this week's round of perk reductions (123 Lite and Partnership credit card), I have signed up for Barclays Blue Rewards.  Given my recent poor experience of Barclays,  I have done this somewhat against my better judgement.  As well as a current account, I have a mortgage with them.  I have set up two DDs on the c/a and I can fulfill the funding requirement. This arrangement should net me £8.00 per month in rewards which seems a bit too good to be true to me.  Are there any pitfalls which I may have overlooked?
I am not expecting this perk to remain intact for long. 

afis1904

Nothing specific but just should be aware that the money is always paid a month in arrears.

jonnygee2

There are no 'pitfalls' as such if you do just use it for the cash rewards and hit the criteria each month. I think most people at this point have had a poor experience with Barclays which is why they are paying people to use their accounts :-) .

RetSol

afis1904 said:

Nothing specific but just should be aware that the money is always paid a month in arrears.

Yes, I will have to wait until September to start receiving my rewards.  TBH, this rate/perk chasing is getting ridiculous.  I need to find a better way to spend my time! 

RetSol

jonnygee2 said:

There are no 'pitfalls' as such if you do just use it for the cash rewards and hit the criteria each month. I think most people at this point have had a poor experience with Barclays which is why they are paying people to use their accounts :-) .

It's crazy... and Barclays are not alone.  The customer is simply an unavoidable nuisance these days, I feel. 

magritte

I must be the only person who likes Barclays. Getting triple blue rewards for two years in a row did help... but generally speaking I am fine with them. Great app and online banking, good mortgage rates, decent customer service (on par with others). Their savings accounts are terrible but it's not good to keep all eggs in one basket anyway...  

RetSol

magritte said:

I must be the only person who likes Barclays. Getting triple blue rewards for two years in a row did help... but generally speaking I am fine with them. Great app and online banking, good mortgage rates, decent customer service (on par with others). Their savings accounts are terrible but it's not good to keep all eggs in one basket anyway...  

I have only just discovered Blue Rewards which is my bad.  Although they could have promoted them more aggressively to mortgage-holders (whom they considerably benefit), I feel.  I have an Android tablet which supports some banking apps, but not Barclays'.  I don't have a smartphone.  Having obtained access to their online banking on my PC, despite the obstacles which they have put in my way, I agree that it is good.  So the picture is mixed but.. ...to say that their customer service is on a par with others is to damn with faint praise.  I certainly don't have all my eggs in one basket.  And never will. 

Emmia

magritte said:

I must be the only person who likes Barclays. Getting triple blue rewards for two years in a row did help... but generally speaking I am fine with them. Great app and online banking, good mortgage rates, decent customer service (on par with others). Their savings accounts are terrible but it's not good to keep all eggs in one basket anyway...  

I've banked with Barclays for many, many years although they're not my main account - I'm generally happy with the service I get, and I like the fact I can have my own photo to personalise my debit card... As I have 2 almost identical HSBC cards (joint and personal accounts) which I perpetually confuse, this is a nice feature that I wish HSBC offered.

Grumpy_chap

IMO Barclays have the best online banking.

colsten

RetSol said:

magritte said:

I must be the only person who likes Barclays. Getting triple blue rewards for two years in a row did help... but generally speaking I am fine with them. Great app and online banking, good mortgage rates, decent customer service (on par with others). Their savings accounts are terrible but it's not good to keep all eggs in one basket anyway...  

I have only just discovered Blue Rewards which is my bad.  Although they could have promoted them more aggressively to mortgage-holders (whom they considerably benefit), I feel.  I have an Android tablet which supports some banking apps, but not Barclays'.  I don't have a smartphone.  Having obtained access to their online banking on my PC, despite the obstacles which they have put in my way, I agree that it is good.  So the picture is mixed but.. ...to say that their customer service is on a par with others is to damn with faint praise.  I certainly don't have all my eggs in one basket.  And never will. 

You don't need the Barclays app or a device that supports the Barclays app. Just a browser and online banking will do. I am not particular to any bank, as I have accounts with just about all of them, and I would say that absolutely none of them, including Barclays, are putting obstacles in your way for accessing your accounts online. Sure, you will have to verify your ID and your rights to access your account, but that is precisely what you would expect from a bank, wouldn't you?

I am not sure whether I would agree Barclays haven't advertised their Blue Rewards scheme aggressively enough. I am not sure whether they ever sent me any emails about it, but I think they probably did. In any case, I found out about it, and I am not even a regular Barclays customer. So I would think a regular Barclays customer would also have found out about it. In fact, a friend of mine banked with Barclays all her life. She told me that Barclays told her about the Reward account several times. She always stopped reading after "we charge you £4 a month", even though Barclays say "Get up to £7 a month for using your account – we’ll give you £3.50 for each of the first two Direct Debits you pay." (I am glad to say she's been collecting her net rewards for almost a year now)

Anyway, here's the Barclays Blue Rewards info:

https://www.barclays.co.uk/current-accounts/blue-rewards/

Mosler

magritte said:

I must be the only person who likes Barclays. Getting triple blue rewards for two years in a row did help... but generally speaking I am fine with them. Great app and online banking, good mortgage rates, decent customer service (on par with others). Their savings accounts are terrible but it's not good to keep all eggs in one basket anyway...  

Did you have 3 current accounts to get triple blue rewards?