Barclays Flexible Cash ISA: online, app access and transfers have been an absolute nightmare

SouthLondonUser

I used to have a Barclays bank account, credit card and then I opened the Barclays 1-year flexible ISA just before they lowered the rate (I still got 4%).

So far, so goo. Then I decided to close my credit card and bank account, and online access became a nightmare.

First Barclays froze my ISA. No explanation given, no weird transfers made, no international payments, nothing.

I had to go in person to a branch where they took a photo of me holding my passport.

Maybe they had to refresh their KYC, maybe one of their algorithms had gone haywire, no clue.

After that, I had access to my ISA, both online and via the app, for about 5-6 weeks - then I lost access again.

The website no longer gave me the option to login using the mobile app to verify myself.

The app had basically reset itself (as if I had just installed it from scratch), and asked for my debit or  credit card details, none of which I had.

So I had to go to a branch in person, again, where they reset my app.

I asked what had happened but they couldn't / wouldn't say.

They said I'd be able to log into the website using the app. But no - the website still didn't give me this option.

So I had to request a telephone pin, because the one I had for my now closed bank account no longer worked! , wait for it in the post, call Barclays, and the call centre operator changed something so that now I could log into the website again.

I then tried to make a transfer to my own bank account... but I couldn't do it, neither from the app nor from the site!

I had to call again, and the operator explained that, since mine is a fixed--term ISA with only 3 transfers (up to 10% of the balance each time) allowed, I can do these over the phone only, not online. I fail to see the logic in this, but whatever...

I have a decent amount saved in the ISA and Barclays offered the best rate at the time; but, had it been a small amount, it wouldn't have been worth all this time.

It is 2023, you shouldn't have to go to a branch twice and spend hours on the phone just to activate app and online access...

guli

lesson: shouldn't have closed your credit card and bank account 

SouthLondonUser

Well, I will  certainly be more careful about customer service when choosing ISAs in the future - although I'm not sure it could have been foreseen.

E.g. let's say you have £30k saved and one account pays 0.10% more than another - on £30k it would be £30 more in a year. Are £30 worth all this time and drama? For me, no.

Obviously if you have £80k saved and the difference between 2 accounts is 0.30%, that's a difference of £240 in a year, and for me £240 is worth a bit more of aggravation and drama  

I wouldn't count beyond one year as rates change all the time