Barclays £175 switch offer - new customers only, Nov 1 - 30 2023

billy2shots

masonic said:

billy2shots said:

Stupid question re Active DDs


Set up 2 DDs on my donor account 2 weeks ago. Received confirmation from the charities that all is set up. 

No money has come out yet (I know this doesn't necessarily mean anything)  

However RBS (donor) has a tab that shows 'Active Direct debit ' and only one of my set ups are showing. 

I am running out of days for the Barclays offer. The account is set up but I haven't started the switch (needs to be done by November 30th)  

Presumably I should hold on longer and hope both DDs go to Active?

RBS (and other group members) do not show active DDs that haven't yet paid. You will therefore have to trust the charities that they are set up.

As an illustration, I set up 2 new DDs on my Ulster account with an immediate pull, waited for them to pay out and then started my switch, only to find I had 3 other active DDs on the account from the previous donor account that I switched in that had never paid out from Ulster, so were not visible. If only I had remembered that previous donor account had DDs on it already!

On the 'Active' RBS screen it is showing the first DD as 27th November,  so a future payment,  not one that has been paid. 

Number 2 DD is not on the 'Active' list. 

masonic

billy2shots said:

masonic said:

billy2shots said:

Stupid question re Active DDs


Set up 2 DDs on my donor account 2 weeks ago. Received confirmation from the charities that all is set up. 

No money has come out yet (I know this doesn't necessarily mean anything)  

However RBS (donor) has a tab that shows 'Active Direct debit ' and only one of my set ups are showing. 

I am running out of days for the Barclays offer. The account is set up but I haven't started the switch (needs to be done by November 30th)  

Presumably I should hold on longer and hope both DDs go to Active?

RBS (and other group members) do not show active DDs that haven't yet paid. You will therefore have to trust the charities that they are set up.

As an illustration, I set up 2 new DDs on my Ulster account with an immediate pull, waited for them to pay out and then started my switch, only to find I had 3 other active DDs on the account from the previous donor account that I switched in that had never paid out from Ulster, so were not visible. If only I had remembered that previous donor account had DDs on it already!

On the 'Active' RBS screen it is showing the first DD as 27th November,  so a future payment,  not one that has been paid. 

Number 2 DD is not on the 'Active' list. 

Interesting, they don't normally show up even the day before paying during the week, I guess you get advanced sight of the next working day during the weekend.

anna42hmr

it could be showing that way if the direct debit is in process of being claimed, as the companies call them a couple of days before they actually debit an account , as direct debits are called on a 3 day processes, so their systems behind the scenes likely knows that the company has started to call the direct debit which is why has tomorrows date on it

https://www.bacs.co.uk/bacs-schemes/getting-started/direct-debit/#:~:text=This data is downloaded into,days from start to finish.

AmityNeon

Zanderman said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Decided to take the plunge today and apply for the Barclays current account via the their app. It was approved straight away and then allowed me to apply for the Blue rewards and again all opened immediately.

I have the two dd's in place but will not pay out again until 8 and 20 December. The switch has been confirmed as being the 5 December. I am hoping they may offer some grace and not charge the £5.00 for November as I have just joined. Fingers crossed! I know with Lloyds when I applied for their Club account this was the case and waived the £3 fee.

They don't take the £5 fee in the first month. They take on the 2nd of the second month onwards.

The first month being November, so that means the £5 fee will be taken in December, but there aren't enough days in November now to ensure two direct debits will pay out to earn the £5 reward in December to offset the fee. A chat with support can result in a goodwill gesture of £5 though.

masonic

AmityNeon said:

Zanderman said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Decided to take the plunge today and apply for the Barclays current account via the their app. It was approved straight away and then allowed me to apply for the Blue rewards and again all opened immediately.

I have the two dd's in place but will not pay out again until 8 and 20 December. The switch has been confirmed as being the 5 December. I am hoping they may offer some grace and not charge the £5.00 for November as I have just joined. Fingers crossed! I know with Lloyds when I applied for their Club account this was the case and waived the £3 fee.

They don't take the £5 fee in the first month. They take on the 2nd of the second month onwards.

The first month being November, so that means the £5 fee will be taken in December, but there aren't enough days in November now to ensure two direct debits will pay out to earn the £5 reward in December to offset the fee. A chat with support can result in a goodwill gesture of £5 though.

The reason they don't charge in the first month is in case one cannot benefit from all of the rewards in that month. So I am surprised they don't simply point out that the December fee is offset by the rewards earned in December. But if they are willing to relent...

AmityNeon

masonic said:

AmityNeon said:

Zanderman said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Decided to take the plunge today and apply for the Barclays current account via the their app. It was approved straight away and then allowed me to apply for the Blue rewards and again all opened immediately.

I have the two dd's in place but will not pay out again until 8 and 20 December. The switch has been confirmed as being the 5 December. I am hoping they may offer some grace and not charge the £5.00 for November as I have just joined. Fingers crossed! I know with Lloyds when I applied for their Club account this was the case and waived the £3 fee.

They don't take the £5 fee in the first month. They take on the 2nd of the second month onwards.

The first month being November, so that means the £5 fee will be taken in December, but there aren't enough days in November now to ensure two direct debits will pay out to earn the £5 reward in December to offset the fee. A chat with support can result in a goodwill gesture of £5 though.

The reason they don't charge in the first month is in case one cannot benefit from all of the rewards in that month. So I am surprised they don't simply point out that the December fee is offset by the rewards earned in December. But if they are willing to relent...

Considering both the reward and the fee are paid on the same day, and the reward pertains to earnings from the previous month, it's reasonable to assume the fee also covers the previous month; earnings are obviously paid in arrears, and the account fee is equally charged in arrears. It would be underhanded for Barclays to then suggest the first fee is offset by the next month's reward payment when the second account fee is also simultaneously charged. If Barclays also charged for the account-opening month (e.g. on the first day), that could lead to customers being charged for two months of fees before their first reward payment offsets the third account fee.

The problem lies with their policy having no regard for the length of the first month resulting in accounts opened later in the month potentially forever net negative. Mention the fairer policies of Lloyds/NatWest/RBS/Santander surrounding the timing of when the initial fee is charged, where grace periods of at least a full month are in place, and Barclays suddenly feels rather guilty charging £5 for an account that has been open for barely a week.

masonic

AmityNeon said:

masonic said:

AmityNeon said:

Zanderman said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Decided to take the plunge today and apply for the Barclays current account via the their app. It was approved straight away and then allowed me to apply for the Blue rewards and again all opened immediately.

I have the two dd's in place but will not pay out again until 8 and 20 December. The switch has been confirmed as being the 5 December. I am hoping they may offer some grace and not charge the £5.00 for November as I have just joined. Fingers crossed! I know with Lloyds when I applied for their Club account this was the case and waived the £3 fee.

They don't take the £5 fee in the first month. They take on the 2nd of the second month onwards.

The first month being November, so that means the £5 fee will be taken in December, but there aren't enough days in November now to ensure two direct debits will pay out to earn the £5 reward in December to offset the fee. A chat with support can result in a goodwill gesture of £5 though.

The reason they don't charge in the first month is in case one cannot benefit from all of the rewards in that month. So I am surprised they don't simply point out that the December fee is offset by the rewards earned in December. But if they are willing to relent...

Considering both the reward and the fee are paid on the same day, and the reward pertains to earnings from the previous month, it's reasonable to assume the fee also covers the previous month; earnings are obviously paid in arrears, and the account fee is equally charged in arrears. It would be underhanded for Barclays to then suggest the first fee is offset by the next month's reward payment when the second account fee is also simultaneously charged. If Barclays also charged for the account-opening month (e.g. on the first day), that could lead to customers being charged for two months of fees before their first reward payment offsets the third account fee.

The problem lies with their policy having no regard for the length of the first month resulting in accounts opened later in the month potentially forever net negative. Mention the fairer policies of Lloyds/NatWest/RBS/Santander surrounding the timing of when the initial fee is charged, where grace periods of at least a full month are in place, and Barclays suddenly feels rather guilty charging £5 for an account that has been open for barely a week.

The fee is charged in advance, but the reward is paid in arrears, so if you join at the end of November, qualify in December, but leave Blue Rewards before the end of December, having paid just one fee, you would still get the reward payment in January, but not pay a fee in January. Likewise you'd be paid in February if you left during January after paying the requisite DDs, and so on. Overall that means the fee always entitles you to a month to earn rewards even when one doesn't qualify in the non-fee paying first month. Getting any rewards in the first month is therefore a freebie and under the T&C they are not under any obligation to credit them as you have not met all of the eligibility requirements (which include payment of a £5 fee in that month).

I must say, of all the bank incentives I've come to know of, Blue Rewards is the least well understood, both amongst customers and apparently also bank staff. Yet the T&C are not that difficult to understand in my view.

Maybe it would be clearer if they charged the first fee on the day you join, and give everyone a £5 credit for the partial month (in acknowledgement that many won't have had time to benefit) on the next payment day (effectively what they do now, but with cash flows). Or alternatively, delay activation of Blue Rewards until the beginning of the next calendar month.

dreaMer001

One of the questions is 'Living situation' and most importantly one of the answers is 'Alone'. Honestly!!, who in comes up with these?

No way to save the terms (and other documents that crop up during application process) to phone. App says we need to "tap 'allow' in the next box", but no such box ever comes up. I looked at the permissions for the App, and storage access permissions are not available. Rubbish bank. They can stick the switch offer.....

Zopa_Trooper

masonic said:

AmityNeon said:

masonic said:

AmityNeon said:

Zanderman said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Decided to take the plunge today and apply for the Barclays current account via the their app. It was approved straight away and then allowed me to apply for the Blue rewards and again all opened immediately.

I have the two dd's in place but will not pay out again until 8 and 20 December. The switch has been confirmed as being the 5 December. I am hoping they may offer some grace and not charge the £5.00 for November as I have just joined. Fingers crossed! I know with Lloyds when I applied for their Club account this was the case and waived the £3 fee.

They don't take the £5 fee in the first month. They take on the 2nd of the second month onwards.

The first month being November, so that means the £5 fee will be taken in December, but there aren't enough days in November now to ensure two direct debits will pay out to earn the £5 reward in December to offset the fee. A chat with support can result in a goodwill gesture of £5 though.

The reason they don't charge in the first month is in case one cannot benefit from all of the rewards in that month. So I am surprised they don't simply point out that the December fee is offset by the rewards earned in December. But if they are willing to relent...

Considering both the reward and the fee are paid on the same day, and the reward pertains to earnings from the previous month, it's reasonable to assume the fee also covers the previous month; earnings are obviously paid in arrears, and the account fee is equally charged in arrears. It would be underhanded for Barclays to then suggest the first fee is offset by the next month's reward payment when the second account fee is also simultaneously charged. If Barclays also charged for the account-opening month (e.g. on the first day), that could lead to customers being charged for two months of fees before their first reward payment offsets the third account fee.

The problem lies with their policy having no regard for the length of the first month resulting in accounts opened later in the month potentially forever net negative. Mention the fairer policies of Lloyds/NatWest/RBS/Santander surrounding the timing of when the initial fee is charged, where grace periods of at least a full month are in place, and Barclays suddenly feels rather guilty charging £5 for an account that has been open for barely a week.

The fee is charged in advance, but the reward is paid in arrears, so if you join at the end of November, qualify in December, but leave Blue Rewards before the end of December, having paid just one fee, you would still get the reward payment in January, but not pay a fee in January. Likewise you'd be paid in February if you left during January after paying the requisite DDs, and so on. Overall that means the fee always entitles you to a month to earn rewards even when one doesn't qualify in the non-fee paying first month. Getting any rewards in the first month is therefore a freebie and under the T&C they are not under any obligation to credit them as you have not met all of the eligibility requirements (which include payment of a £5 fee in that month).

I must say, of all the bank incentives I've come to know of, Blue Rewards is the least well understood, both amongst customers and apparently also bank staff. Yet the T&C are not that difficult to understand in my view.

Maybe it would be clearer if they charged the first fee on the day you join, and give everyone a £5 credit for the partial month (in acknowledgement that many won't have had time to benefit) on the next payment day (effectively what they do now, but with cash flows). Or alternatively, delay activation of Blue Rewards until the beginning of the next calendar month.

That is pretty much what I was told in the branch, but when I reported it on here I was shot down. Glad somebody else reads it the same way. One of the conditions of being eligible to get the rewards is to pay the £5 monthly fee and as none of us joining in November have paid that fee then none of us are entitled to the benefits. It's pretty straight forward really.

masonic

Zopa_Trooper said:

masonic said:

AmityNeon said:

masonic said:

AmityNeon said:

Zanderman said:

CRISPIANNE3 said:

Decided to take the plunge today and apply for the Barclays current account via the their app. It was approved straight away and then allowed me to apply for the Blue rewards and again all opened immediately.

I have the two dd's in place but will not pay out again until 8 and 20 December. The switch has been confirmed as being the 5 December. I am hoping they may offer some grace and not charge the £5.00 for November as I have just joined. Fingers crossed! I know with Lloyds when I applied for their Club account this was the case and waived the £3 fee.

They don't take the £5 fee in the first month. They take on the 2nd of the second month onwards.

The first month being November, so that means the £5 fee will be taken in December, but there aren't enough days in November now to ensure two direct debits will pay out to earn the £5 reward in December to offset the fee. A chat with support can result in a goodwill gesture of £5 though.

The reason they don't charge in the first month is in case one cannot benefit from all of the rewards in that month. So I am surprised they don't simply point out that the December fee is offset by the rewards earned in December. But if they are willing to relent...

Considering both the reward and the fee are paid on the same day, and the reward pertains to earnings from the previous month, it's reasonable to assume the fee also covers the previous month; earnings are obviously paid in arrears, and the account fee is equally charged in arrears. It would be underhanded for Barclays to then suggest the first fee is offset by the next month's reward payment when the second account fee is also simultaneously charged. If Barclays also charged for the account-opening month (e.g. on the first day), that could lead to customers being charged for two months of fees before their first reward payment offsets the third account fee.

The problem lies with their policy having no regard for the length of the first month resulting in accounts opened later in the month potentially forever net negative. Mention the fairer policies of Lloyds/NatWest/RBS/Santander surrounding the timing of when the initial fee is charged, where grace periods of at least a full month are in place, and Barclays suddenly feels rather guilty charging £5 for an account that has been open for barely a week.

The fee is charged in advance, but the reward is paid in arrears, so if you join at the end of November, qualify in December, but leave Blue Rewards before the end of December, having paid just one fee, you would still get the reward payment in January, but not pay a fee in January. Likewise you'd be paid in February if you left during January after paying the requisite DDs, and so on. Overall that means the fee always entitles you to a month to earn rewards even when one doesn't qualify in the non-fee paying first month. Getting any rewards in the first month is therefore a freebie and under the T&C they are not under any obligation to credit them as you have not met all of the eligibility requirements (which include payment of a £5 fee in that month).

I must say, of all the bank incentives I've come to know of, Blue Rewards is the least well understood, both amongst customers and apparently also bank staff. Yet the T&C are not that difficult to understand in my view.

Maybe it would be clearer if they charged the first fee on the day you join, and give everyone a £5 credit for the partial month (in acknowledgement that many won't have had time to benefit) on the next payment day (effectively what they do now, but with cash flows). Or alternatively, delay activation of Blue Rewards until the beginning of the next calendar month.

That is pretty much what I was told in the branch, but when I reported it on here I was shot down. Glad somebody else reads it the same way. One of the conditions of being eligible to get the rewards is to pay the £5 monthly fee and as none of us joining in November have paid that fee then none of us are entitled to the benefits. It's pretty straight forward really.

Barclays clearly is letting people off and paying the benefit in the first month for those who meet all the other requirements. I suppose that in itself opens them up to requests for further goodwill from those who missed one of the other requirements. I'll not have time to get 2 DDs pulled before the end of the month, but I have already benefited from the £10 cashback reward, so will take that.