Barclays Premier now available to all?

Marchitiello

[Deleted User] said:

The mystery deepens......

IMPORTANT INFO FOR EXISTING PREMIER CUSTOMERS Apparently, Barclays are now (according to the staff member I spoke to) removing the option to pay the £20PCM fee to maintain the account and their accounts will likely be downgraded to the ‘standard’ account after 12 calendar months have lapsed if they don’t meet the income threshold. (They previously did this a few years ago)… This is only a very recent thing & branches apparently had a meeting about this a few weeks ago. (Please, anyone feel free to correct me on the above if this is incorrect…)
In my case - said staff member also said I’d need to have my salary paid directly into the Barclays Premier Account in order to keep it… 

https://www.reddit.com/r/UKPersonalFinance/comments/120ivxf/running_hsbc_barclays_premier_concurrently_advice/

Would not be the first time branch staff got the message wrong. Also, after initial uncertainty when the £20 charge was launched, Barclays has officially changed the marketing material and T&C which makes it clear that you will be charged if not meeting the criteria..

what they did some years ago, when they reshuffle of the pay for accounts, was to remove the Premier as a pay for account, relaunched as a proper Premier account for people earning £75k, with no fee and some real perks. As the Perks have now gone, they may have review it further and decided (as evidenced here) that some people would pay for just having a Balck card and feel somehow affluent.. maybe they have since realised that some people will avoid the fee by circling money around various banks and will indeed further review it but the T&C have not yet been changed again.

as a side note, Lloyds also offered a pay for Premier account in the past, that has been long gone.

but my real question for you @[Deleted User] is did you get the overdraft facility you wanted after the upgrade or are they still refusing it? 

[Deleted User]

Marchitiello said:

[Deleted User] said:

The mystery deepens......

IMPORTANT INFO FOR EXISTING PREMIER CUSTOMERS Apparently, Barclays are now (according to the staff member I spoke to) removing the option to pay the £20PCM fee to maintain the account and their accounts will likely be downgraded to the ‘standard’ account after 12 calendar months have lapsed if they don’t meet the income threshold. (They previously did this a few years ago)… This is only a very recent thing & branches apparently had a meeting about this a few weeks ago. (Please, anyone feel free to correct me on the above if this is incorrect…)
In my case - said staff member also said I’d need to have my salary paid directly into the Barclays Premier Account in order to keep it… 

https://www.reddit.com/r/UKPersonalFinance/comments/120ivxf/running_hsbc_barclays_premier_concurrently_advice/

Would not be the first time branch staff got the message wrong. Also, after initial uncertainty when the £20 charge was launched, Barclays has officially changed the marketing material and T&C which makes it clear that you will be charged if not meeting the criteria..

what they did some years ago, when they reshuffle of the pay for accounts, was to remove the Premier as a pay for account, relaunched as a proper Premier account for people earning £75k, with no fee and some real perks. As the Perks have now gone, they may have review it further and decided (as evidenced here) that some people would pay for just having a Balck card and feel somehow affluent.. maybe they have since realised that some people will avoid the fee by circling money around various banks and will indeed further review it but the T&C have not yet been changed again.

as a side note, Lloyds also offered a pay for Premier account in the past, that has been long gone.

but my real question for you @[Deleted User] is did you get the overdraft facility you wanted after the upgrade or are they still refusing it? 

I guess we will have to wait and see what Barclays decide to do with it. Judging by the branch I visited, which was "open" but the counter was closed??? they care little so I would not expect much.

Club Lloyds is a decent offering as is RBS rewards for the average earner. 

@Marchitiello

I have managed to obtain a £10 overdraft since the upgrade! I will give it a couple of months so see if they give me anymore, I certainly won't be keeping the account beyond then if they don't budge. I believe the overdraft options renew on the 1st of each month. 

The black card does come with a £2000 cash withdrawal limit. 

Futuristic

[Deleted User] said:

I’d be interested to hear from current premier account holders if they find it’s been worth it?

Nope. Only got it for the amazing sign up bonus (100k Avios) which I just got paid, cancelled all the Avios things now and will move banking elsewhere if my account gets downgraded/charged. Have friends who've had issues with Barclays recently and quite few posts here recently too so not sure there is any real benefit. 

If you care about a terrible looking "old style" black card then go for it (that said the Avios Plus credit card looks nice), if you want a bank with UK customer service and very few issues I'd be inclined to recommend Chase. Hopefully they release some sort of "premier" banking, I'd pay for it considering the experience I've had so far with them (ie. trying to send large payment at 1am getting held for manual review and having it resolved within minutes of calling)

Marchitiello

I had a £500 overdraft when my Barclays account was a Student account, increased to £1000 once it became a Graduate account and to several thousands when I was upgraded to Premier years ago, albeit I have never actually make any real use of it aside of some minutes when my Mortgage DD gets taken and the transfer from one of my interest earning accounts land. 

Not sure they will increase the facility after few months, I would expect at least 6 months to a year.

WillPS

[Deleted User] said:

I have managed to obtain a £10 overdraft since the upgrade! I will give it a couple of months so see if they give me anymore, I certainly won't be keeping the account beyond then if they don't budge. I believe the overdraft options renew on the 1st of each month. 

Imagine your account was flagged up for review, randomly, pseudo-randomly or because of some risky behaviour, and you were the person reviewing your account manually to see if you were potentially a problem client.

Would you think constantly seeking overdrafts was nothing to worry about, or a sign of distress?

[Deleted User]

WillPS said:

[Deleted User] said:

I have managed to obtain a £10 overdraft since the upgrade! I will give it a couple of months so see if they give me anymore, I certainly won't be keeping the account beyond then if they don't budge. I believe the overdraft options renew on the 1st of each month. 

Imagine your account was flagged up for review, randomly, pseudo-randomly or because of some risky behaviour, and you were the person reviewing your account manually to see if you were potentially a problem client.

Would you think constantly seeking overdrafts was nothing to worry about, or a sign of distress?

I'm sorry but I don't know what you (or x3 people who supported your post) mean. My Barclays account has never been overdrawn. My debt debt utilisation is under 10%. 

I have not "constantly sought overdrafts". I opened a Barclays account, used it (and currently still do) as my main account for seven months and then spoke to Barclays asking for an overdraft. The app states I could not get one, when I spoke to the agent she did calculations and said I have over £1000 a month spare and she could not understand why the automated system was saying no. She then passed it to an underwriter, who said no as well. The agent also stated six months is sufficient to apply for an overdraft.

As I have explained before, my pay sometimes is lower on certain months, hence I asked Barclays for a £500 overdraft for the months the payment is low. I have only applied for an overdraft once and this was refused. I have since opened a Lloyds account and was given a £500 overdraft at once. I am going to stay with Barclays for a year in the hope they will allow the overdraft, if not it is time to say goodbye. It's just so much hassle to change my main account for various reasons beyond the switch, otherwise i'd already be gone. It does annoy me a bit when MSE members assume the worst. Obviously I know multiple applications for credit would look bad. 

This was my thread on the subject:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6416497/how-long-before-barclays-can-offer-you-an-overdraft#latest

WillPS

[Deleted User] said:

WillPS said:

[Deleted User] said:

I have managed to obtain a £10 overdraft since the upgrade! I will give it a couple of months so see if they give me anymore, I certainly won't be keeping the account beyond then if they don't budge. I believe the overdraft options renew on the 1st of each month. 

Imagine your account was flagged up for review, randomly, pseudo-randomly or because of some risky behaviour, and you were the person reviewing your account manually to see if you were potentially a problem client.

Would you think constantly seeking overdrafts was nothing to worry about, or a sign of distress?

I'm sorry but I don't know what you (or x3 people who supported your post) mean. 

I can't speak for the other 3, but my suggestion was that if you valued a long term relationship with any bank, it'd not be in your interest to repeatedly ask for more credit. Six months sounds reasonable but two (as indicated in the post I replied to) does not.

[Deleted User]

WillPS said:

[Deleted User] said:

WillPS said:

[Deleted User] said:

I have managed to obtain a £10 overdraft since the upgrade! I will give it a couple of months so see if they give me anymore, I certainly won't be keeping the account beyond then if they don't budge. I believe the overdraft options renew on the 1st of each month. 

Imagine your account was flagged up for review, randomly, pseudo-randomly or because of some risky behaviour, and you were the person reviewing your account manually to see if you were potentially a problem client.

Would you think constantly seeking overdrafts was nothing to worry about, or a sign of distress?

I'm sorry but I don't know what you (or x3 people who supported your post) mean. 

I can't speak for the other 3, but my suggestion was that if you valued a long term relationship with any bank, it'd not be in your interest to repeatedly ask for more credit. Six months sounds reasonable but two (as indicated in the post I replied to) does not.

Oh of course yes that is correct. But Barclays in particular have been so obtrusive to me, I do wonder if they have me marked or something. All other banks are fine. I did wonder if Barclays are looking at the industry I work in and think it is risky due to that.  I am certainly not going to make another application for an overdraft until the app offers it. I'd imagine I will have to wait until the summer. Barclays have until the end of summer or I must go elsewhere!