Page 1 of Cut up your Barclaycard NOW!!!

Think this is fookin disgusting....

Quote:
Barclaycard customers who pay their bills in full each month may have their payment date suddenly brought forward, the bank has told the BBC.

The move could put customers at risk of incurring a £20 late payment fee if they do not examine their bills carefully each month.

This revelation comes amid continued criticism of bank profits and not long after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation into late payment charges.

However, Barclaycard denies it is trying to rake in late penalties, and says it never guarantees customers a fixed payment date each month.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4`s Money Box programme, Barclaycard`s Ian Barber said any change of date will be explicitly outlined on the customer`s statement.

He said Barclaycard was "having to face up to the fact that clearly we are not making as much money out of customers that pay their bill in full as we are out of those that borrow", he said.

He added that the company was "quite open about it... if you pay your bill in full every month you may get a few days less to pay...

"That is the fact of it and we are not going to shy away from that."

Holiday period

Money Box listener Justin from Cambridge contacted the programme after he received his latest bill.

"When I looked at all my previous statements and my February statement, all the payments were required on the 9th of the month. The only one which is not is the December statement which requires payment by the 3 January.

Justin believes Barclaycard has a policy to maximise penalty payments, and he was concerned the company was doing it during the holiday period when banks are often shut.

But Mr Barber denied this and said: "What typically would have happened here is that he would have for a period of time, probably three, four or five months, been regularly paying his bill in full.

"Once we recognise that someone is regularly paying their bill in full, we will shorten the time that they have got to pay a little, and that is what will have happened here."

A simple way to avoid the risk of any late payment charge was, Mr Barber said: "to set a direct debit payment up on the account.

"It is universally good advice to set up a direct debit for at least the minimum amount.

"That way you can make sure you are not going to be hit with any late payment charges, and obviously if you want to pay more on top of that direct debit it is very easy to do so."

Got rid of mine years ago, but I can`t see any sane reason for having one now. And the fact the guy is so blase about it really p***es me off..



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It`ll never heal if you don`t stop picking...


My Collection

This item was edited on Sunday, 5th February 2006, 12:53

ive got two ccs from barclays always pay em more than in full early each month, so they can go poke it

ps i also got a halifax cc and theyve nearly tripled my credit limit in two years. had my barclays over a year and still only got a 300 squid limit wtf?

i dont need it at all but its a slap in the chops when they dont offer you it ;)

If you always pay off your cc bill in full every month you can set up a direct debit from your current account for the full amount ensuring that you never have to pay late fees in case the date changes or you forget. That`s what I do with my Nationwide and Capital One cards now. Had a Barclaycard for years and used to collect the points to redeem. Ended up with a CD after 2 years of spending. Absolutly hopeless. Now get cashback on both my cards instead of crappy points or offers you never take up.

Rocky..

"How come we play war and not peace? Too few role models."

Stantz can you post the link please? Cheers.

To the news story? sure

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/4681228.stm
Found through Fark

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It`ll never heal if you don`t stop picking...


My Collection

Quote:
ps i also got a halifax cc and theyve nearly tripled my credit limit in two years.

at the age of 18 i got a HSBC CC for £1,000, by the time i was 21 they raised my limit to £5,500... needless to say i`ve been paying £200 a month off for a year and still owe £5,200 :(

It used to be worth having a Barclays cc, because you used to get Nectar points and 3months price match on items you buy on the card including matching with UK internet sites. Now you hardly get anything :(

Certainly worth looking at other cards, but which ones? Maybe the Sainsburys/American Express one, that give nectar points on all purchases.

niteowl

Quote:
at the age of 18 i got a HSBC CC for £1,000, by the time i was 21 they raised my limit to £5,500... needless to say i`ve been paying £200 a month off for a year and still owe £5,200

Snap...when I turned 18 and upgraded my bank account they offered me a barclaycard...which I took thinking that having never had credit before and being so young I`d only get a tiny credit limit (i was thinking sortof £100 maximum) and would be able to pay off anything I put on it...they gave me £2500 straight away...I really wish I`d cut the card up as soon as I got it.

I dont have any credit cards whatsoever! That way I dont have to worry about about paying off high interests or incurring late penalties. If I want buy something really badly I`ll save up for it and pay using my switch card or - horror of horrors - real money!

Simple really!