Barclays personal reserve

SparciaM

Is this reverse to all Barclays customers? As my sister has a Barclays account and I told her to watch out for the Opt Out literature that was sent, as she wouldn't need the reverse and she's never received a letter telling her about reserves and she doesn't have a reserve on her account.So I'm guessing the reserve is not across the whole board of current account customers.

bluflashlite

SparciaM wrote: »

Is this reverse to all Barclays customers? As my sister has a Barclays account and I told her to watch out for the Opt Out literature that was sent, as she wouldn't need the reverse and she's never received a letter telling her about reserves and she doesn't have a reserve on her account.So I'm guessing the reserve is not across the whole board of current account customers.

Afraid it's ALL current account holders UNLESS they opt out.

Tell her to check what it says at the foot of her last (paper) bank statement - Look for "Account details" in bold print & underneath she'll find the word 'Reserve' which will say "£0" if she doesn't have it.

If she doesn't get paper statements through the post, she'll need to call them and ask them the direct question.

I stress paper statements because I have yet to see anything mentioning my Reserve status when viewing on-line statements with Barclay's Internet Banking (which of course disadvantages those customers using that service alone!)

If she is opted out without getting or sending back the form, I suppose she might have prompted the opt-out by mentioning she didn't want it when visiting her branch? - If so, she's lucky to have such an efficient branch!

Which prompts me to point out that I don't tar everybody with the same brush at Barclay's - they are rare, but hats-off to the few branches/managers who DO still put their customers needs as the first priority! :T

SparciaM

She didn't receive anything. Didn't go into a branch and didn't opt out of anything.Nothing is stated on her statements regarding a reverse or anything. The only thing Barclays have done in the last month, is reduce her OD from £400 to £100 as she only ever goes over by like £20pm.So this proves that not every customer was given a letter regarding the reserve facility. I might get her to call to confirm why she hasn't received her opt in letter.

Nikabella

bluflashlite wrote: »

I stress paper statements because I have yet to see anything mentioning my Reserve status when viewing on-line statements with Barclay's Internet Banking (which of course disadvantages those customers using that service alone!)

I bank with Barclays & use internet banking on a day-to-day basis. When I click on my account from the front page it takes me into the transactions/statement screen for that account & at the top of this page it shows:

Current Cleared Balance £999.99
Last Night's Balance £999.99
Overdraft Limit -£1,000.00

Your Reserve is an amount by which you can go over your overdraft limit, on a short term basis. Reserve Usage fees will apply for the use of this service.

Reserve Amount -£1,000.00

I would have thought everyones internet banking was the same?

HTH

teeni

bluflashlite wrote: »

Afraid it's ALL current account holders UNLESS they opt out.

Tell her to check what it says at the foot of her last (paper) bank statement - Look for "Account details" in bold print & underneath she'll find the word 'Reserve' which will say "£0" if she doesn't have it.

If she doesn't get paper statements through the post, she'll need to call them and ask them the direct question.

I stress paper statements because I have yet to see anything mentioning my Reserve status when viewing on-line statements with Barclay's Internet Banking (which of course disadvantages those customers using that service alone!)

If she is opted out without getting or sending back the form, I suppose she might have prompted the opt-out by mentioning she didn't want it when visiting her branch? - If so, she's lucky to have such an efficient branch!

Which prompts me to point out that I don't tar everybody with the same brush at Barclay's - they are rare, but hats-off to the few branches/managers who DO still put their customers needs as the first priority! :T

my barclays on line state ment clearly showa reserve value , in my case nil as i refused their kind offer.

Calchas

bluflashlite wrote: »

I've just returned to this thread & have to say I'm shocked at the continued arrogance offered by those 'advocates' of the banking world, especially in the face of a rather apocalyptic crisis in that specific industry.

At a time when we are all losing our confidence in banking systems, you'd have thought it would be in their own interests to re-engage with us customers, by restoring a little morsel of trust when opportunities like this arise......but no, instead they keep on with the holier-than-thou dictatorial self-righteousness, failing to realise it fundamentally contributes to the public concern & nervousness that can only perpetuate the current economic difficulties!

Little wonder that many of us are beginning to feel that our mattresses might be a considerably safer place to keep our precious funds, however meagre.

So for anyone wondering who the bigger fools are on this thread, I think I pretty-much just summed that up. :rotfl:

Difficult to disagree with any of the above. So much so, I am not even going to try! :T

myners

I`m ordinary Joe Bloggs with no financial training whatever, I run my account logging all transactions into a transaction record so I know what is in my account and have never been overdrawn and although offered an overdraft declined.

Last year I recieved this `Personal Reserve` letter which I still have, as I don`t go overdrawn and didn`t expect too I just stored the letter, if a man who worked in the city Lord Myners can`t spot `discretionary` how is the ordinary person menat to understand this gobbledook. I didn`t even spot the opt out clause.

Through a short spell of ill health I missed putting one small payment on my transaction record, so as fas as I was aware I was still in credit. This morning I recieved a letter from Barclays AKA Scammers stating I was 4-44p into my `Personal Reserve` pot and there would be a £22-00 charge for this, I still didn`t totally understand the letter a phone call to Barclays had it all explained to me.

I`ve got to pay £22 for the use of £4-44p for 24 hours.

I was given the astounding fact that if I had opted out of this `Personal Reserve` which seems to be being sold as being as in my interests and just had an overdraft then the charge would have been miniscule with one person saying £8-00 and another saying just a few pennies as I have already put the account into the black.

I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told no as It wasn`t a bank error, the woman asked if I wanted the reserve closing, Yes please and while you`re at it close my account as I`m going elsewhere.

With this I`m then told I can speak to someone higher up, this person then regurgitates the same story and because my account is so well run I can have an overdraft of £xxxx amount. No thankyou I just want this £22 rip off sorted, no can do.

I asked is this a way around the bank charges rip off and he didn`t disagree with me.

I will be leaving Barclays in the next two days so they will lose far more than £22-00. Is there any route I can take to officially protest about this scam as it seems to be being used as a way around the banking charges fiasco.

I suspect their figure of 90% take will diminish as people become aware of the scam..

cally6008

How is it a scam ? It was an "opt-out" service. If you didnt want it, you should have opted out. You went overdrawn and didnt have an overdraft but did have a personal reserve which you used so you have to be charged for.

Yes its a pain in the butt but its not worth getting that wound up about. Get the overdraft, cancel the Reserve and make sure you don't use the overdraft. Simple as.

Uncertain

There is a regular poster on here who claims to be a former Barclays branch manager and now something much higher up. I seem to recall (s)he has claimed that this scam (sorry reserve) has been taken to the FOS in the past and found to be proper!

However, it will cost you nothing apart from a stamp to put this to the test. You will have to go through the Barclays complaints process first, but once they have messed you about for 2 months you can fill in the FOS form.

Perhaps even if the Barclays chap(ess) is speaking the truth, which seems unlikely if s(he) is something senior in a Bank, we can all put our heads together to find a slant to this disgrace which will interest the FOS.

jadex

cally6008 wrote: »

How is it a scam ? It was an "opt-out" service. If you didnt want it, you should have opted out. You went overdrawn and didnt have an overdraft but did have a personal reserve which you used so you have to be charged for.

Yes its a pain in the butt but its not worth getting that wound up about. Get the overdraft, cancel the Reserve and make sure you don't use the overdraft. Simple as.

How can it be an 'opt-out' service if I have never ever requested it?
I expect for paid service to be opt-in rather than opt-out....