Applying to Barclays for bank switch - need an in branch appointment?

Hooli

trickydicky14 said:

Hooli said:

trickydicky14 said:

So is this appointment thing being applied to all or is it those who can't get stuff verified online?

Hooli said:

I too had difficulty despite call centre staff doing her best. Barclays cannot offer me any other way of confirming my ID other than to make me an appointment in a branch in a town centre over 10 miles away which will take 4 bus journeys.  There are 2 hubs within spitting distance but neither offer the service 'Verifying ID'.  

So, for me to make all that effort, it's just not worth it.  Barclays, you've lost out on another customer.  Lloyds, here I come 😁

Following on from my comment above, I visited my local 🤣 branch, 10 miles away, yesterday and was told, 'That's ridiculous, they can absolutey verify your ID at a hub!'  I was told that by 3 members of staff in branch.  The issue seems to be, if you have ever had an account with Barclays, the system cannot deal with having you on there again.  

The lovely lady who eventually got me sorted persevered for over an hour.  I had to delete the app and start again.  When it stopped me on the 'need to verify ID' she took my picture, with me holding my passport, my driving licence too and attached that to my record and hey presto, I now have an account. 

Do be warned though, last night I activated my switch, signed up to Blue Rewards, signed up to on-line banking, could view and move around my account, deposited my £2k and now I cannot access my account online.  

In my online banking, to log on, clicking on the 'Confirm your ID on the Barclays app' just tells me to download the app, even though my membership number and name is displayed on screen.  I cannot do it with passcode and memorable name because they need to send me this ........in the post!  

I also cannot make any payments from my Barclays app because I can't set up a new payee for up to 4 days!  So, my £2k is stuck there for the time being.

It's alot of hurdles and I can completely understand why people are giving up and even moving away from Barclays. I think their days are numbered.

Would it have been possible to not put the 2k in the account until later in the month before the deadline. This would give you a small amount of time to iron out any issues?

Yes, in hindsight, I should have considered but based on experiences with challenger banks, I wasn't expecting such issues with such a longstanding household name. Silly me eh. I should have known from the number of hoops i've had to jump through just to open the account.  I just want to warn others.  I mean, £2k is alot of money to not be able to access even for a few days. 

OrangeBlueGreen

I remember Barclays wanting me to book an appointment to switch a joint account. I laughed internally and just went elsewhere. Their IT is so archaic.

Edit: Had a quick look at their website and it seems like it's a still a requirement in 2025. I also notice they'd like to see 6 months statements to look at matching an overdraft. I can vaguely see what they are doing but expecting this from customers today is just saying "go elsewhere". Everything is so old fashioned, even down to their FAQs. 

brewerdave

Had a similar experience with NatWest recently - not switching issue but ID - as a couple we have had a joint account with them since 1978 but somehow they had managed to mangle my wife's DOB when transferring form paper systems to computer in the dim and distant past.
Nearest branch was one we had never used and when we arrived for appointment equipped with passport ,birth certificate etc , the branch manager didn't know how to update DOB on their systems !!

moneytorques

Im in the Barclays ID appointment camp. Have struggled to find an appointment in either London or Brighton thats I can accommodate, I once had a Barclays account and have a Barclaycard account so I understand that the multi application from a same person ID is the issue, Im going all in for the £400 so will stick at it!

trickydicky14

Barclays
I was being put off applying for a Barclay account with all the bad stuff being said. Still, I took the chance today and it all went perfectly. So not all bad news

Rob5342

OrangeBlueGreen said:

I remember Barclays wanting me to book an appointment to switch a joint account. I laughed internally and just went elsewhere. Their IT is so archaic.

It's amazing how archaic the old fashioned banks can be. Halifax wanted my wife and I to go to a branch just to add my name to her account, we laughed and just opened a new joint account with Santander (which we have since switched to Monzo) You also have dinosaurs like Nationwide and Co-op who can't even manage the most rudimentary things like having transaction notifications in their apps. 

Theleak250

Barclays are particularly strict. I opened an account in the summer, and was asked to make an appointment in branch and bring ID. When i got there they could not even approve the application and had to call another team, to get the account opened. They stated the application had been marked as fraudulent. I also held a previous account.

molerat

That would be fun for me as my three closest branches are 70 and 160 miles !  A pretty stupid idea, mass branch closures forcing people to do everything on line then expect you to go into a branch.