Barclaycard cancelled with no notice

Puff3rf15h79

So a couple of weeks ago, I applied for a Barclaycard, and was quickly accepted. £4000 limit, which was perfect, as my intention for the card was for a balance transfer, and to help with my wife's 40th and impending Christmas costs. All seemed good.
Received the card in time for our trip away for my wife's 40th, and no problems.
Fast forward to a week ago, and I put in for the balance transfer. Get a message saying they'll let me know when it's all gone through. Still nothing after a couple of days, but I wasn't overly worried. Tried to use my card for a small shop, and it was declined. Tried in another shop and declined again. Come home and use the live chat on the app to find out what's going on, as nothing on my app suggested there was a problem. The guy on the chat explained that he couldn't help me, as my card was being managed by a "specialist team", whatever that means, and gave me a number to ring. After being transferred through several people, I ended up talking to someone who was apparently part of the fraud team. I was told that my card had been cancelled due to them carrying out further verification checks and deciding I didn't meet the criteria after all, and that I would receive a letter in the post explaining this.
Unsatisfied by this explanation, I rang customer service. This guy told me that I should have a message through the app, which I found hidden away in documents, (no notification whatsoever to tell me I'd received this) and that he couldn't give me any more information than that. The letter gave the explanation that my card had been cancelled due to my "spending and payments". Since I've had the card around a week and a half, there have been no payments to make. The guy on the phone told me that "due to regulations", I would never be able to find out exactly why my card had been cancelled.
So now I have a cancelled card with a grand of debt, which has possibly also damaged my credit rating.
Has anybody else received this kind of treatment, and is this even legal?
If nothing else, this seems morally wrong.
My wife and I have difficulties with anxiety disorders as it is, and Barclays screwing us over like this has certainly not helped.

DullGreyGuy

Puff3rf15h79 said:

Has anybody else received this kind of treatment, and is this even legal?
If nothing else, this seems morally wrong.
My wife and I have difficulties with anxiety disorders as it is, and Barclays screwing us over like this has certainly not helped.

Yes, banks cancel accounts.

The ombudsman expect that for general closures that the bank should give at least 60 days notice of the closure but there can be exceptional reasons why it needs to be closed with less time. This is an interesting ombudsman case to read https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-4667538.pdf where the customer ran up £23,000 on their new credit card and AmEx cancelled the card as they found evidence that lead them to believe they either wouldn't or couldn't pay the debt. 

As you note from the case above, the evidence was given in confidence to the ombudsman and so wasnt shared with the customer (though what the outcome of the DSAR was we can only speculate)

MattMattMattUK

Puff3rf15h79 said:

So a couple of weeks ago, I applied for a Barclaycard, and was quickly accepted. £4000 limit, which was perfect, as my intention for the card was for a balance transfer, and to help with my wife's 40th and impending Christmas costs. All seemed good.
Received the card in time for our trip away for my wife's 40th, and no problems.
Fast forward to a week ago, and I put in for the balance transfer. Get a message saying they'll let me know when it's all gone through. Still nothing after a couple of days, but I wasn't overly worried. Tried to use my card for a small shop, and it was declined. Tried in another shop and declined again. Come home and use the live chat on the app to find out what's going on, as nothing on my app suggested there was a problem. The guy on the chat explained that he couldn't help me, as my card was being managed by a "specialist team", whatever that means, and gave me a number to ring. After being transferred through several people, I ended up talking to someone who was apparently part of the fraud team. I was told that my card had been cancelled due to them carrying out further verification checks and deciding I didn't meet the criteria after all, and that I would receive a letter in the post explaining this.
Unsatisfied by this explanation, I rang customer service. This guy told me that I should have a message through the app, which I found hidden away in documents, (no notification whatsoever to tell me I'd received this) and that he couldn't give me any more information than that. The letter gave the explanation that my card had been cancelled due to my "spending and payments". Since I've had the card around a week and a half, there have been no payments to make. The guy on the phone told me that "due to regulations", I would never be able to find out exactly why my card had been cancelled.

It could be one of many things, you will never find out what if it is deemed commercially sensitive or possibly fraud.

Puff3rf15h79 said:

So now I have a cancelled card with a grand of debt, 

The grand of debt was your choice, it exists whether the card still works or whether the card is cancelled.

Puff3rf15h79 said:

which has possibly also damaged my credit rating.

Your credit rating is a made up number, it is entirely pointless and no lender ever sees it, you can safely ignore it.

Puff3rf15h79 said:

Has anybody else received this kind of treatment, and is this even legal?
If nothing else, this seems morally wrong.

Perfectly legal, no legal, regulatory or moral issues. Barclaycard are not obliged to accept or keep you as a customer. 

Puff3rf15h79 said:

My wife and I have difficulties with anxiety disorders as it is, 

There are route you can take for help with that, your GP should be your first port of call.

Puff3rf15h79 said:

and Barclays screwing us over like this has certainly not helped.

You have not been screwed over. In reality this matters little, if at all. 

If I were you I would be getting a statutory report from all three CRAs, as well as submitting a SAR to CIFAS to see if there is anything incorrect on those. The other issue may be errors in applications, overstated income, understated debts, not mentioning a CCJ etc. 

Puff3rf15h79 said:

So a couple of weeks ago, I applied for a Barclaycard, and was quickly accepted. £4000 limit, which was perfect, as my intention for the card was for a balance transfer, and to help with my wife's 40th and impending Christmas costs. All seemed good.

A final note, this being MSE. Accumulating credit card debt for birthdays and Christmas is a bad idea and very costly in the longer term and is not advisable under any circumstances, so on that basis, this could potentially be a blessing in disguise.