Barclaycard

Ibbo4750

I am a 73 yr old pensioner and have had a Barclaycard for as long as I can remember and YES I have used it over the years. My credit limit was £14250 but for the last 2yrs it has had a nought balance. Prior to this I had a balance of approx £11000 but paid it off. Barclaycard did not seem to be concerned or make contact with me during the time of this balance, but last week I received a letter informing me that my credit limit was being lowered to £250. I queried this and was told it was because of there lending criteria. Why did they let me continue with the £14250 credit limit when I had a high balance but now basically close the card when I have no balance, particularly during  pandemic when as an older person I am restricted going out and may have needed to have use of a credit card for protection when purchasing online.  After all these years of having a Barclaycard I am very disappointed that they have done this particularly when I have no balance outstanding. I have heard of others also having there credit cards closed or seriously restricted recently and am wondering if the credit card companies are just covering there backs during this pandemic. I would be interested to hear what Martin Lewis thinks of this issue not only for me but for others possibly finding themselves in the same situation. Thankyou.

Penelopa.Pitstop

There were at least two similar stories on the forum last week. Just scroll down and go one page back.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6209678/limit-decreased/p1
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6210535/used-my-credit-card-after-notice-given-of-impending-limit-reduction#latest

cymruchris

There are several threads on here running with exactly the same scenario. Many people have had their limits reduced to £250 or something similar from a previous multi-thousand pound level. They are going through a review of their customers, and appear to be targeting those in general who have large limits that are sitting unused. They are reducing their exposure at a time when things are challenging in the world. No doubt you have the means to support a credit card debt, but that's not really what their aim is in this exercise.

If the total of the available credit limits was £20 million pounds, but only £5 million pounds was being regularly used, then they are looking at ways to cut down that £15 million pounds in order to reduce exposure to bad debt or allocate the available credit to people that will use it (and they can make more money from). Simplistic figures but you get the idea. It's not personal, they aren't targeting you, and you've done nothing wrong, it's just the way it is for the moment. If it concerns you, you could try an eligibility checker for an alternative credit card from another provider.

Ibbo4750

Thank you for your response. HSBC have also stopped my daughters card. She had made a couple of purchases lately amounting to £2000 with a limit of £6000 and was about to clear it in full. She spoke to them about it but was told that they would have stopped it even if she only had £500 on it....they were very rude to her. Don't the banks remember what the tax payer did for them in 2008? Pehapse Martin Lewis should remind them of it!!!!

bradders1983

Ibbo4750 said:

Thank you for your response. HSBC have also stopped my daughters card. She had made a couple of purchases lately amounting to £2000 with a limit of £6000 and was about to clear it in full. She spoke to them about it but was told that they would have stopped it even if she only had £500 on it....they were very rude to her. Don't the banks remember what the tax payer did for them in 2008? Pehapse Martin Lewis should remind them of it!!!!

Maybe people on here could remind you HSBC didn't take a penny of that bailout

Malkytheheed

You are not a profitable customer. Simple. 

eskbanker

Ibbo4750 said:

Don't the banks remember what the tax payer did for them in 2008? Pehapse Martin Lewis should remind them of it!!!!

They're more likely to remember that the root cause of that crisis was inadequately-controlled lending, which, unlike the whole 'we saved them' narrative, is still relevant today!

JJ_Egan

OP Martin Lewis does not read the forum .

He also sold MSE many years ago .

eskbanker

JJ_Egan said:

OP Martin Lewis does not read the forum .

He also sold MSE many years ago .

Although some posters do seem to post as if they're addressing him personally, that one just seemed to be making a more general point.

And Martin Lewis's sale of the business didn't end his involvement with it, as explained at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/about-the-site/

MSE joined the MoneySupermarket group in 2012 and in late 2016 I moved from being Editor-in-Chief of MSE to the highfalutin title of Executive Chairman. That means while I still oversee the site's content, quality, ethics and strategy, the site is day-to-day run by the brilliant MSE team now nearing 100 people.

Ibbo4750

The reply..." Your not a profitable customer. Simple" I assume you mean old. Unfortuently everyone get's there in the end!! even Bankers. I just feel that having been a Barclaycard holder all my working life and used it !! To have my card basically closed just because my balance is nil, and during a pandemic is shocking.

bradders1983

Ibbo4750 said:

The reply..." Your not a profitable customer. Simple" I assume you mean old. Unfortuently everyone get's there in the end!! even Bankers. I just feel that having been a Barclaycard holder all my working life and used it !! To have my card basically closed just because my balance is nil, and during a pandemic is shocking.

Come off it now, they cant win either way here. They either have people like you moaning, or they have people moaning who DONT have their credit limit reduced and then start bleating "waah waaah waaah I lost my job and Barclaycard should have reduced my limit and I lost my job so I maxed it out and they should have stopped me waah waah waah"

Are you genuinely suggesting Barclaycard should facilitate irresponsible borrowing in a pandemic?