How long before Barclays can offer you an overdraft? 10 January at 7:14PM in Budgeting & bank accounts 45 replies 1.4K views

StrictGold5208

I have had a Barclays account for seven months, each month my salary is paid in. But they state they are unable to offer me an overdraft. Does anyone know how long they take to say yes? I only have a mortgage coming out which is less than half of the salary. 2k on a CC. Nothing to suggest I cannot pay off debts. Other banks say yes, but Barclays says no.

MorningcoffeeIV

They can offer you one immediately. By can't, they mean won't, based on your profile and their criteria.

So any time between now and never.

jay1804

I had an account for over 1 year (about 14 months) before I got offered a 4k overdraft, my income was paid into that account during the time, I also had a barclaycard for a long time before I opened the account.

Band7

They might have done you a favour, since overdrafts are one of the most expensive form of borrowing. Have you tried a loan instead? Or could you avoid the need for a loan altogether by cutting some spending?

grumbler

StrictGold5208 said:

... But they state they are unable to offer me an overdraft. ... 2k on a CC. Nothing to suggest I cannot pay off debts. ...Barclays says no.

With 2K on a CC why do you need even more expensive overdraft?

Band7

grumbler said:

StrictGold5208 said:

... But they state they are unable to offer me an overdraft. ... 2k on a CC. Nothing to suggest I cannot pay off debts. ...Barclays says no.

With 2K on a CC why do you need even more expensive overdraft?

maxed the CC, may be?

StrictGold5208

Band7 said:

They might have done you a favour, since overdrafts are one of the most expensive form of borrowing. Have you tried a loan instead? Or could you avoid the need for a loan altogether by cutting some spending?

The overdraft is simply to have a buffer. I do not require it as such for everyday spending, but every now and then until I am paid again. 

StrictGold5208

grumbler said:

StrictGold5208 said:

... But they state they are unable to offer me an overdraft. ... 2k on a CC. Nothing to suggest I cannot pay off debts. ...Barclays says no.

With 2K on a CC why do you need even more expensive overdraft?

Band7 said:

grumbler said:

StrictGold5208 said:

... But they state they are unable to offer me an overdraft. ... 2k on a CC. Nothing to suggest I cannot pay off debts. ...Barclays says no.

With 2K on a CC why do you need even more expensive overdraft?

maxed the CC, may be?

The CC limit is 15k........... (x2) and another at 10k. 2K is rather small would you not say compared to 40k I could have?

As above, I like to have a buffer just in case. You can't use a credit card to pay your bills or mortgage. If the overdraft is ever used it would only be a couple of hundred. Other banks gave me 4/5k overdraft in a heartbeat. Barclays I guess I will have to wait and see if they give me one at 12 or 18 months. It is just for a backup as my pay changes by that amount every couple of months.

I find it somewhat concerning that you took a high ground and accused me of maxing out a CC. Hardly warm advice to cast such a judgement I must say.

phillw

First direct are more likely to give you an overdraft and the first £250 is interest free.

Barclays have never offered me one, they say I'd have to go into a branch with payslips

mab3000

Barclays usually like to see how well the account is run for the first 6 months or so before they offer overdrafts and personal loans to customers. Their systems automatically look at a number of different factors based on your account performance, and they then pre approve you for an overdraft or loan when you are eligible for it. 

It sounds like you are doing everything they normally look for, you’ve waited a number of months, salary going into the account (if your employer doesn’t pay you via BACS that could be a problem as their systems don’t automatically identify your salary as your salary if it’s paid by faster payment). They also do look at other internal factors such as what type of transactions you do (excessive gambling transactions has a negative impact for example) and of course they take what is on your credit file into account. 

I’d give it a couple of months and see if you become pre approved for an overdraft. If you have their app, check on the first Sunday of each month, their systems refresh for pre approval of overdrafts and loans. If after a few months you still aren’t pre approved and you really want an overdraft, I’d recommend banking elsewhere. 

Band7

StrictGold5208 said:

grumbler said:

StrictGold5208 said:

... But they state they are unable to offer me an overdraft. ... 2k on a CC. Nothing to suggest I cannot pay off debts. ...Barclays says no.

With 2K on a CC why do you need even more expensive overdraft?

Band7 said:

grumbler said:

StrictGold5208 said:

... But they state they are unable to offer me an overdraft. ... 2k on a CC. Nothing to suggest I cannot pay off debts. ...Barclays says no.

With 2K on a CC why do you need even more expensive overdraft?

maxed the CC, may be?

The CC limit is 15k........... (x2) and another at 10k. 2K is rather small would you not say compared to 40k I could have?

As above, I like to have a buffer just in case. You can't use a credit card to pay your bills or mortgage. If the overdraft is ever used it would only be a couple of hundred. Other banks gave me 4/5k overdraft in a heartbeat. Barclays I guess I will have to wait and see if they give me one at 12 or 18 months. It is just for a backup as my pay changes by that amount every couple of months.

I find it somewhat concerning that you took a high ground and accused me of maxing out a CC. Hardly warm advice to cast such a judgement I must say.

Why not just use your credit cards as buffer then? Put whatever would have pushed you overdrawn on the credit card(s). That costs you nothing, provided you pay attention (and the cards off in full monthly), as opposed to overdraft charges that you would incur at Barclays. 

If you prefer [to pay for] overdrafts, and other banks let you have them, you could obvsly also use such other banks.

I'd also like to clarify that nobody accused you of having maxed out your CC. It was merely a question. If you had offered all the facts to start with, nobody would have needed to ask questions. Other than that, maxing your credit card in some way is perhaps not advisable but is hardly a crime.