Barclaycard limit reduction post covid

tp59bikes

I received the letter out of the blue and was of course taken aback and wanted to know why. I rang Barclaycard who advised it was down to new FSA(?) rules, borrowing due to COVID (I haven't) and Brexit.  I ensure I always pay more off the card than the lowest - in fact I had a zero balance!  They want more financial data to assess whether they can increase my credit limit from £250 (down from £10,000) to an affordable limit. As they increased my credit limit without question it seems like an exercise in financial data gathering. I was advised that all credit card companies will be following Barclaycard's lead. I believe that as much as I believed their stupid reasoning

Guillemot

I had my limit reduced from £2,500 to £750
After this notification I changed my limit to £600,as I want to be debt free,anyway 

My credit rating with Experian is 999,but Barclays have just accelerated my payment plans,and once paid off I won't be using their services again

The final,amusing point,I had a text from them this evening informing me I was close to my credit limit ! 

Nebulous2

Adams18 said:

Nebulous2 said:

mustiuc said:

I'm not starting any argument here and I'll stop with this post. 
First of all learn how cards/transactions work and how they make money and then say you beat the banks/cards.
Secondly, if some of you spent thousands each month to receive pennies as "points or rewards" and consider "beating the system/banks" then I can't have a serious conversation with you about this topic.
Personally I consider if you really have the means of spending 5-10k a month on a monthly basis, you don't really care of £30/month compared to the available money. For me the single logical thing will be poor people acting to be rich by putting everything on CC for the sake of "honey, today we got a fiver in points whilst we booked a 7k holiday we can't afford" - but virgin were generous giving us a high limit because we have a "perfect credit rating".
I prefer having 0 debt rather than "beating the system" with 25-50k on my name.

Have fun beating the system and earning 0. peanuts in interest/rewards. 

PS. Don't know why I'm so nasty today... Maybe I've seen too many of my family/friends living their life and beating the system. 

You may know about banks, and you may know some people who live beyond their means, but you don't know a great deal about human behaviour or rich people. People who have had it tough are often marked by their upbringing and find it difficult to spend.

I know a multi-millionaire, with a personal plate worth £50k and an £80k car, who will take a 3 hour bus journey, which he could drive in less than 2 hours, because he gets it free with his bus pass. 

A personal plate 50k for an 80k car lol

that seems a bit disjointed...

He has had.the plate a long time.

Locally business owners and farmers put a lot of stock in private plates, often associated with the name of their business / farm.

There are a lot of plates around here that are worth considerably more than the car they are attached to. 

randompenitent

I had my limit reduced from £4,000 to £250.  I didn't use the card much - probably not since summer 2019 as it was just for foreign holiday spending. The card originally had fee-free cash withdrawals abroad which were a remarkable deal, though I'm not certain whether this continued. Paid the full balance by direct debit every month. 

It doesn't look to be connected to credit scores - Experian shows my score as 999 - but a £250 limit makes the card pretty useless so I'm closing the account.

KitMunki

I saw similar on the daily Mail article but there were a few flags that show this is probably overhyped. Most customers were saying they don’t use their balances and or pay off in full. So Barclaycard don’t make much back in that respect. Also unused balances post covid and job losses also increase Barclaycard’s potential risk.
My limit was cut by £5000; but as per Barclaycard’s comments not below my highest balance in the last two years. I agree when people say there are limited rewards. I haven’t had a single balance transfer offer in the last 5years at least. I did manage to agree a fixed rate at 12.5% some time ago which might be why. I too am a little peeved at the lack of consideration or options from Barclaycard. More so because the £5000 cut makes a significant change to overall borrowing potential vs borrowed amount which does affect your credit rating. As a result I have had to increase other limits; but was successful in a 9% purchase card from Lloyds which made up the difference. Once I have that I will contact Barclaycard and ask them to drop my fixed rate again or I will leave. Not an ultimatum but if they don’t value my custom it’s no loss to me

KitMunki

chrisdg4kvi said:

Get out quick. I assume it will effect your credit rating as it could show you have a problem. Mine reduced by £3200

It’s only likely to affect your rating in the respect of your existing borrowing vs the amount you have available to spend. Some credit reference agencies say 25% borrowing while others say 30. 

northwalesd

Alex9384 said:

People who wrote they haven't used their card at all for a long time - limits reduced

People who wrote they use their cards but clear their balance in full each month - limits reduced

People who wrote they use their cards and make more than minimum payments (bank makes money) - limits reduced

So, swingeing cuts across the board, no matter, it seems, how the card has been/is being used or the balance managed. So nothing personal against any one customer, yet even now posters taking the notice of reduction as a personal affront.

My limit isn't massive, 4k, biut no sign of a reduction for me - yet.

easterbunni

No letter yet...

My Barclaycard is an ex-Egg card, paying cash back

Pay for absolutely everything on it, even for milk at the corner shop

Statement balance paid off every month via DD so not an interest payer.

I usually bin the letters about balance transfers so don't take much notice of when they arrive, but sure I had one fairly recently. The app is offering me a balance transfer though.

Limit between £5k and £10k

Linmin

I have escalated my complaint regarding this arbitrary ‘financial protection plan’ to someone with some authority at Barclaycard- as recommended to me by a VERY senior managing director of Barclays Banking. 

He informed me that there were 4 different types of letter issued, some requesting proof of income (mine was this type) I don’t know what the other letters contain. 
The ridiculous credit limits were designed to provoke an immediate response, which would indicate which customers were worth negotiating with! 

They don’t seem to like customers who have a Barclaycard without having their main income bank account with Barclays; they had been unable to verify my income since 2003....hence why I may have been selected? (He was rather concerned when I explained why I had closed my Barclays account many years ago, due to extremely poor service)
They will take 4 weeks once my proof of income (obviously higher than in 2003!) has been received to reoffer a credit limit, IF they deem it appropriate. 

He has asked me to contact him directly ( direct number) with the outcome. I will obviously be closing my account if this is unsatisfactory, but I am also very concerned that this sudden credit reduction and subsequent closure will impact my exemplary credit history? I will grill him accordingly! 

I was apparently the first feedback he had received at this point, so I told him I was certainly speaking on behalf of a great many customers, I considered this initiative to be both insulting AND patronising. I rather felt he agreed! 

noh

No letters for me either.
I have two Barclaycards both ex egg so therefore held for the last 10 years.

The Reward card is used regularly for household expenses and is paid off every month usually around 20% of credit limit used.
The Platinum card hasn't been used for 7 months prior to that a 0% offer was used. The credit limit on that is a five figure sum but less than £20k.
I have never had a current account with Barclays they have never asked me to or been able to verify my income.