Important changes to my Barclays current account

[wheresmyhairgone]

I think i,ll be worse of under the proposed system as i see it, the £22 would be payable every 5 days while i,m overdrawn. At the moment it is a one off £30 payment however long it takes me to get back in the black.

[yourbank]

just to clarify my question, that is based on 5 working days ie a normal 7 days incl. saturday and sunday?

I guess I am interested in whether the old or new system proposed is as it is allegedly supposed to be, ie "better" for customers.

[wheresmyhairgone]

But to get back to my main gripe.I will try to put it simpler because i realise i may have been rambling abit.

Every month for the last 12 months i have applied for a £1000 overdraft and every time it has been denied because my account has not been run properly. Now we all know its because they make more money from me if i don,t have an overdraft, and many thousands of others. but the fact is i cannot argue thier reasons

But now they have offered me a £1000 personal reserve the average is £500 i assume i was given £1000 limit because my account is usually back in the black before the end of the month.

Now my point is that maybe i could now challenge thier reasons for not giving me an overdraft

Surely if i,m seen as a risk for an overdraft, i must be a risk for personal reserve.

Surely they can not now deny that the reason is THE CHARGES

[wheresmyhairgone]

Sorry YOURBANK

I will quote from thier Q&A booklet.

no. 13
Q.What if my balance is still in my reserve after five working days?
A. YOU WILL INCUR A FURTHER RESERVE USAGE FEE OF £22 AND A NEW PERIOD OF FIVE CONSECUTIVE WORKING DAYS WILL BEGIN

[yourbank]

That is a wrong assumption IMHO albeit, i do understand your rationale for saying that. Applying and getting an overdraft is based on a number of factors, income being one of them, credit scoring and how the account has been run previously. The charges have been because of an action ie a cheque written out, a standing order going out, a direct debit going out, or even floor limits of a shop that has caused the account to trigger charges. Those charges are caused by an action.
I am not of the opinion that the bank intentionally wants to charge you because that would suggest that everyone gets banks charges regardless. That isn't the case. However, the amount of the charge and the way they are applied does not necessarily help the individual. Maybe what the bank could have done on the initial issue was to increase/add an overdraft to the account to prevent further charges and better advice how the charges work. That would both mean that initial cause of a charge would be dealt with and internal credit score may have been better and at the same time making sure you know why and how to avoid charges in the future.

[wheresmyhairgone]

yourbank i see you work for NatWest if that is so i fear you have answered as a bank empoyee.

Surely all those factors that you mention were taken into consideration when offering, sorry giving me a £1000 personel reserve.

And as for the banks not wanting to intentionally charge people i remind you of the billions made by banks from charges.

i,m afraid once they have you in the charges/overdrawn cycle they are not to eager to help you out of it. why let the goose who is laying your golden egg have his/her freedom

[yourbank]

Normally I would take you to task over what you have written. This is not the site that I will do, but if you had someone who worked for Barclays who did/does as much as Nattie/NatWestStaffMember does across bank charges sites, I am sure you would not deride my post as "you have answered as a bank empoyee."
My view is never driven by where I work but on what I do cos that is the important thing.

[wheresmyhairgone]

I ,m sorry if you have taken that the wrong way, but your answer mirrors the answer i had from the Barclays empoyee.

As you are a bank employee with knowledge can you answer the question i pose.

why give me an unathorised overdraft but not the authorised one, the factors you say they use must be used for both

And then would you please take your bank employee hat off and then answer the same question.

I am not having a go because of your employment status.

[zootscoot]

Its always good to have a helpful bank employee aroundYB,

Barclays states here that they always apply charges in a way which costs the customer less. I was wondering if you knew if NatWest operate a similar system?

[wheresmyhairgone]

Hi ZS

I have been looking at the paperwork they sent me to try and sort out the charges amount if you opt out.

It says :

overdraft with reserve = if you go into reserve fees are £8

reserve only = if you go into reserve fees are £8

overdraft only = if you exceed your overdraft fees are £8

But no mention about fees for people who opt out and do not have an overdraft

[wheresmyhairgone]

Hi yourbank

I would be interested in your answer to my question

[Bookworm]

Originally Posted by wheresmyhairgone

Hi ZS

I have been looking at the paperwork they sent me to try and sort out the charges amount if you opt out.

It says :

overdraft with reserve = if you go into reserve fees are £8

reserve only = if you go into reserve fees are £8

overdraft only = if you exceed your overdraft fees are £8

But no mention about fees for people who opt out and do not have an overdraft

that's right, which is why I brough it up in the first place on this thread. If they say anywhere what is supposed to happen then, it is really well hidden because I have read the paperwork 12 dozen times and i can't see it, which is why I was interested in what you were told by the employee.

[wheresmyhairgone]

Hi again
Apoligies if this has been discussed, i,ve been away for a week.

BOOKWORM you might be interested in this.

I called Barclays again and asked what the fees would be if i opt out and do not have an overdraft. The person said that the old t&c,s would apply. I asked if that meant the charges remain at £30 & £35, he repeated that the old t&c,s applied. I again asked him if he could confirm what the charges would be, he then put the phone down on me.

I phoned back and this time the person confirmed the charges would stay at £30 & £35. I asked him why this is not stated on the paperwork i was sent. He said he didn,t know but i could register a complaint if i wanted to.

The thing i have noticed is if someone has an overdraft and opts out of the personal reserve their charges will still be changed to £8, but surely they would still be on the old t&c,s. I can,t find anything in the new t&c,s about this.

[BeauBrummie]

Just a bit of info,

Had a letter from Barclays today after I have sent back the "opt out" form. It would appear that I now do not have reserve and that my account is as it was.

Does say though that I can apply again for the reserve after 18 August although again I may not get the original reserve offered.

Time to apply for an overdraft I think?

Beau

[Bookworm]

So much for transparency....

[mina2974]

I had the reserve added onto my account, at midday on the 11th i did a transfer from one account to another and then a transfer from the account i put funds into to an external account, on the 12th i checked my account and the date of the internal transfer had been changed to the 12th causing me a 22 reserve charge, when i called them up about this they stated system showed i did the internal transfer after 6.30pm, advised them that i could access my internet providers logs and prove that this was a lie and would take them to court for fraud (hubby works for my internet provider), the charge was immediatly refunded as a one off goodwill gesture,