Barclaycard Prime & Limits

tomxlisa

Managed to get myself a Barclaycard what I’d like to ask is this card classed as a none credit building card basically a prime card, the reason I ask is im currently building new credit after some silly mistakes years ago and want to know I’m on the right track as I only used to be able to get cards that are credit building ones and designed for that, so will be comforting to know this is my first prime card, the card I’ve got is the (platinum purchase card) I even got almost 2 years 0% on balance transfers and all purchases too, also if anyone has this card how often do they put limits up and are they quite generous with this as in do they do it often?. Thanks. 

WillPS

Barclaycard offer both prime and subprime products, the latter are branded Forward. Platinum, Rewards and Avios products, along with a whole host of others no longer available, are their prime offerings. It doesn't really matter if you're using a prime or subprime card honestly, so long as it's a good deal for you - other lenders will only see that you have a credit card.

They've offered me a lot of credit bumps in my years with them, although it has been over a decade now since I initially joined, I couldn't tell you reliably how quick they were with them. I seem to recall 3 bumps in one year but I could be misremembering. What I can remember is that when Covid hit they cut back their exposure quite drastically, we had reports on here of 5-figure limits being dropped to 3-figure ones.

tomxlisa

I know the forward is more of a subprime card as that’s mainly for people with very poor credit history but I actually managed to get the platinum one so just wanted to know if I’m on the right track to eventually getting prime cards as i would of thought the platinum one was even though they never give it me at the displayed apr it was slightly higher so maybe I’ve got some work still to do on my credit report, hopefully they are generous with the limits as mine didn’t start off that high but hopefully good management will get it there. 

Jami74

tomxlisa said:

 wanted to know if I’m on the right track to eventually getting prime cards

What are you actually trying to achieve? Is there a particular 'prime' card you are hoping to get? What sort of bigger limits are you looking for?

As long as you pay off in full every month (or at least the minimum on a zero percent card) then you'll build good credit history and be more attractive to lenders.

Edited to add: My first two credit cards were supermarket cards, I was pretty chuffed when I got the Barclaycard Platinum. My next card after that (many months later) was Amex.

tomxlisa

To be fair I just wanted to know if the barclaycard is more of a prime than a subprime card to know I’m on the right path to building better credit, as for the credit increases I’m guessing they will be after the 4th statement or something like that, pretty chuffed when I got the platinum card just a shame it has a low limit of £850 on it as it has come with some great purchase and balance transfer 0% perks, but then I guess £850 isn’t such an awful starting point I’ve seen people starting with lower.

Nasqueron

tomxlisa said:

To be fair I just wanted to know if the barclaycard is more of a prime than a subprime card to know I’m on the right path to building better credit, as for the credit increases I’m guessing they will be after the 4th statement or something like that, pretty chuffed when I got the platinum card just a shame it has a low limit of £850 on it as it has come with some great purchase and balance transfer 0% perks, but then I guess £850 isn’t such an awful starting point I’ve seen people starting with lower.

Prime and sub-prime doesn't really mean much in the scheme of things, no-one but you sees it and there were sub-prime cards in the past that had better benefits than prime e.g. I think there was a Cap One card that paid cashback for example? Prime to me is AmEx or any similar card that pays cashback benefits / equivalents, anything else is just a card for paying for stuff.

Credit limit increases are very much down to the lender's own timetable and would be based on managing risk and previous behaviour. I would suggest at least 6 months before you even consider applying + ensure your credit file is better. I have had 2 limit increases this past 12 months, one from a card that I have had for 20 odd years which I just spend on periodically to keep it active and one with a BT on it that I likely won't use after it's paid off. My main card has been stubbornly fixed at the same limit since I got it (in the same group as the oldest card!) 

tomxlisa

I think what I’m getting at with the prime and subprime thing is there are cards like capital one which you can only get when you have quite a awful credit history and then there are cards for the people with great credit history and you will only get if you have that great credit history so was just wondering if the barclaycard platinum fell in that category, I’ve just had credit limit increases on other cards I’ve got one on the 4th statement so I’m hoping that’s the same for the barclaycard as it would be great for that limit to increase a little more so I can enjoy the 0% spending on it a little more then. 

WillPS

tomxlisa said:

I think what I’m getting at with the prime and subprime thing is there are cards like capital one which you can only get when you have quite a awful credit history

Not true - most of the time 'great credit history' customers can get subprime ones too. Usually there's no reason to but for a while Aqua was the last card standing at 0.5% cashback, so plenty did despite the fact they already had other more prestigious cards.

tomxlisa said:

there are cards for the people with great credit history and you will only get if you have that great credit history

Nothing so simple I'm afraid. Lenders are complex beasts - some will place a value on household earnings, some won't. Some will decline applications because of evidence of a few missed payments, others might see them as a positive.

There's many other potential variables, particularly when you think of all the data lenders could potentially use from other sources (i.e. other accounts held/past usage, loyalty card data etc). I'm afraid the 'better record = access to the best cards' hypothesis you're offering is just a slightly more nuanced version of the score-myth that credit bureaus (and those reselling their wares) peddle.

tomxlisa said:

 so was just wondering if the barclaycard platinum fell in that category, I’ve just had credit limit increases on other cards I’ve got one on the 4th statement so I’m hoping that’s the same for the barclaycard as it would be great for that limit to increase a little more so I can enjoy the 0% spending on it a little more then. 

Notwithstanding the above, Barclaycard is almost the definition of a mass-market lender. They have products aimed at those new to credit cards and products which carry £20/month fees aimed at affluent customers. In the middle (where you are) they have some middling products.

I'm afraid there's not really much to conclude, other than you have a product which isn't explicitly marketed toward those with limited or rocky history, but that's not to say Barclaycard definitely don't regard you as such. The important point to note is - if that is a card which is going to unlock some potential for you, or better still save you some money, that's a win. Continue using everything responsibly and hopefully more wins will come to you later

Nasqueron

I have a Platinum as a bank transfer card, it's nothing special. Brand names or prime vs non-prime are for people who care about what others think basically. I would rather an Aqua paying 0.5% cashback regardless of the connection with sub-prime, the only downside would be they don't tend to give big limits even to prime customers. If it makes you feel better you can look at the higher end cards once you have some credit history but as this is MSE, the advice would always be to get the card that pays the most benefits whether an Asda card if you shop there, an Amex Nectar card if you shop at Sainsburys etc