Barclays Premier Banking Eligibility

ForumUser7

Does this term in the Barclays personal tariff document mean if I was to do a faster payment of £3,330 into my account each month from an external account (and then remove it from my account after) I would hypothetically be eligible for free premier banking please? Or do they require proof of salary etc. and for that to be over £75,000? Thanks

‘To be eligible for free Premier Banking, you’ll need to have a Barclays current account and either, pay in an annual gross income of £75,000* or more into that account, or hold at least £100,000 in savings with us and/or in personal Barclays UK investments.

There’ll be a monthly fee of £20.00 for Premier Banking if you don’t meet this.

We’ll review your eligibility for free Premier Banking regularly and if you don’t meet this we’ll contact you to explain your options.

To find out more about Premier Banking, visit barclays.co.uk/premierbanking or ask at a branch.

*equivalent to at least £3,330 paid into your account each month, or £40,000 in the previous 12 months.’

diystarter7

Hi
Years ago we were automatically put onto Barclays PB.

We left work a few years ago at just under and over the age of 55 and out incomes reduced massively - we have a joint account - then a few months ago they noted the fact and wanted to charge us but have given us a grace period until the current Barcalys prem cards expire in 2026 i think. It we decide to keep the prem a/c after that its 20 quid and its a no thanks from us.

No proof of slary was ever required as I guess they could see what was going in and oth the previous years as we have been with them close to 40 years.

Thanks

ps - give them a call they answer quickly and very helpful

grumbler

ForumUser7 said:

‘To be eligible for free Premier Banking, you’ll need to have a Barclays current account and either, pay in an annual gross income of £75,000* or

Income means income, otherwise they'd say 'credit' like, say, for their 'Blue Rewards' (and other banks say for various accounts).

This doesn't mean that they will ask for proofs.

AlwaysLearnin

FP in and out each month works for maintaining free premier status.  Doubt it would to qualify (unless perhaps playing the long game of FP in and out of a standard acct each month in the hope that the algorithm picks you up for an upgrade at some point - not sure it's worth it though...)

claire07

I too was put in Premier Banking many years ago despite being nowhere near qualifying.  This year I presumed as they were checking accounts I would be moved out but surprisingly received a letter saying as I had been with them so long I could stay with Premier Banking!  So it might be worth ringing to check.

Section62

diystarter7 said:

Hi
Years ago we were automatically put onto Barclays PB.

We left work a few years ago at just under and over the age of 55 and out incomes reduced massively - we have a joint account - then a few months ago they noted the fact and wanted to charge us but have given us a grace period until the current Barcalys prem cards expire in 2026 i think. It we decide to keep the prem a/c after that its 20 quid and its a no thanks from us.

No proof of slary was ever required as I guess they could see what was going in and oth the previous years as we have been with them close to 40 years.

Which benefits of the account do you find most useful?

I see that the debit card has a £1000/day cash withdrawal limit.  That seems a bit of an anachronism... do people still have a need to withdraw that amount of cash from a machine on a daily basis?

ForumUser7

Thanks all - I suppose the main handy thing for me would be, should I need it, you can get through on the phone quicker I believe

Marchitiello

Section62 said:

diystarter7 said:

Hi
Years ago we were automatically put onto Barclays PB.

We left work a few years ago at just under and over the age of 55 and out incomes reduced massively - we have a joint account - then a few months ago they noted the fact and wanted to charge us but have given us a grace period until the current Barcalys prem cards expire in 2026 i think. It we decide to keep the prem a/c after that its 20 quid and its a no thanks from us.

No proof of slary was ever required as I guess they could see what was going in and oth the previous years as we have been with them close to 40 years.

Which benefits of the account do you find most useful?

I see that the debit card has a £1000/day cash withdrawal limit.  That seems a bit of an anachronism... do people still have a need to withdraw that amount of cash from a machine on a daily basis?

I have had Barclays Premier for donkey years and they do occasionally and randomly check for eligibility. However I know of few people that have applied and received an upgrade followed by a letter that they will test eligibility after the first year. 

Barclays PB used to come with some Rewards perks which I made good use of over the years but some years ago these were ended (free daily coffee on the way to work, free English Heritage Membership, Free Majestic bottles periodically, etc), however I have actually had to use the larger cash point limits on several occasions, mostly to pay tradesmen that negotiated better pricing for cash payment, and my ATM limit is actually higher than £1000 a day.

perks I still have use of are the access to Mortgage preferential rates, Avios Rewards and a quite large interest  free overdraft (used nicely for cash flow purpose) 

edit: worth adding that they have changed the words around eligibility and pay in requirement of £3.3k pm or £40k a year recently. When the pay in requirement first came in, the T&C made a distinction between being eligible in the first place with £75k min income or £50k saving & investment, and the fact that they were introducing a £20 fee for those who then did not pay in £3.3k per month (imply that those eligible but not using the account to pay in their income would be charged). The latest wording, changed around the time the 100,000 Avios promotion was launched, describe the pay in requirement in the same sentence as the £75k and in fact on Travel forums there are reports of many  not eligible (declaring the right sub £75k income but being upgraded anyway, as declaring false upper income would be reported to National Hunter with the associated problem) but being upgraded (having to first apply for standard Personal Account and then ask for the upgrade, as when applying directly for PB were rejected and given a standard account.

diystarter7

Marchitiello said:

Section62 said:

diystarter7 said:

Hi
Years ago we were automatically put onto Barclays PB.

We left work a few years ago at just under and over the age of 55 and out incomes reduced massively - we have a joint account - then a few months ago they noted the fact and wanted to charge us but have given us a grace period until the current Barcalys prem cards expire in 2026 i think. It we decide to keep the prem a/c after that its 20 quid and its a no thanks from us.

No proof of slary was ever required as I guess they could see what was going in and oth the previous years as we have been with them close to 40 years.

Which benefits of the account do you find most useful?

I see that the debit card has a £1000/day cash withdrawal limit.  That seems a bit of an anachronism... do people still have a need to withdraw that amount of cash from a machine on a daily basis?

I have had Barclays Premier for donkey years and they do occasionally and randomly check for eligibility. However I know of few people that have applied and received an upgrade followed by a letter that they will test eligibility after the first year. 

Barclays PB used to come with some Rewards perks which I made good use of over the years but some years ago these were ended (free daily coffee on the way to work, free English Heritage Membership, Free Majestic bottles periodically, etc), however I have actually had to use the larger cash point limits on several occasions, mostly to pay tradesmen that negotiated better pricing for cash payment, and my ATM limit is actually higher than £1000 a day.

perks I stil have used of are the access to Mortgage preferential rates, and Avios Rewards, a quite large interest  free overdraft (used nicely for cash flow purpose) 

No perks used other than a while ago got through more quickly and someone in the uk when I rang the dedicated Premier banking line - I think it no longer is around - other than that, nothing as we don't take out loans never bothered with the offers, we just got it and then it took them a few years to work out that we were getting a lot less than the 75k per into out accounts and siad they would charge us 20 quid a month - it wa a not thanks - but when i rang they said the prem banking debit cards we had would remain FoC until expiry in mid 2026 I think it is.

However, as above there are advantages for some.

Many years ago I bought a st mondeo and got 1k back from Barclays rewards but that was not premier banking and also recalling getting 4 tickets for the London eye and something else - those were real rewards especially the 1k back and that was not a gimick.

Thanks

Section62

Marchitiello said:

...there are reports of many  not eligible (declaring the right sub £75k income but being upgraded anyway, as declaring false upper income would be reported to National Hunter with the associated problem) but being upgraded (having to first apply for standard Personal Account and then ask for the upgrade, as when applying directly for PB were rejected and given a standard account.

Thanks for the insights Marchitiello.

The part of your post I quoted was the thing that I had in mind - the OP's idea of paying £3,330 into their account would only work if you are able to get past any questions/checks that Barclays make on your actual income, with the obvious pitfall that falsely declaring an income of £75k+ could win you a NH record.

If there is no significant benefit from having Premier Banking, save the speedy phone access, then the risk/reward equation looks particularly bad.  (Not that I would ever suggest or condone anyone giving false information when applying for a financial product.)

I wondered whether diystarter7 had discovered a Premier Banking benefit the rest of us had missed. Seems not.

Your point about being able to get sums of up to £1000 for occasional cash payments is well made, but for those of us with multiple current accounts with different banking groups it is relatively painless to get hold of that sum by making withdrawals on more than one account.  Arguably there may be some advantage to not withdrawing £1000 in cash from a single account in one go if the intention is to make a cash payment to a trader.

ForumUser7

Section62 said:

Marchitiello said:

...there are reports of many  not eligible (declaring the right sub £75k income but being upgraded anyway, as declaring false upper income would be reported to National Hunter with the associated problem) but being upgraded (having to first apply for standard Personal Account and then ask for the upgrade, as when applying directly for PB were rejected and given a standard account.

Thanks for the insights Marchitiello.

The part of your post I quoted was the thing that I had in mind - the OP's idea of paying £3,330 into their account would only work if you are able to get past any questions/checks that Barclays make on your actual income, with the obvious pitfall that falsely declaring an income of £75k+ could win you a NH record.

If there is no significant benefit from having Premier Banking, save the speedy phone access, then the risk/reward equation looks particularly bad.  (Not that I would ever suggest or condone anyone giving false information when applying for a financial product.)

I wondered whether diystarter7 had discovered a Premier Banking benefit the rest of us had missed. Seems not.

Your point about being able to get sums of up to £1000 for occasional cash payments is well made, but for those of us with multiple current accounts with different banking groups it is relatively painless to get hold of that sum by making withdrawals on more than one account.  Arguably there may be some advantage to not withdrawing £1000 in cash from a single account in one go if the intention is to make a cash payment to a trader.

Thanks for this @section62 - I was never thinking about putting incorrect information on, that would cause so many problems. It's just more I didn't know if Barclays asked me etc. The best thing may be to just make deposits of approx 4k monthly and then withdraw and see if the algorithm automatically offers me an upgrade - it may not, but it isn't too much hassle and given the length of phone call queue times it'd be quite handy to get through to the premier team, quicker!