There are lots of things you can write about Barclays Bank and most of them probably wouldn't be that complimentary, but for now I'm just going to concentrate on giving a thorough run down of their internet banking service because I think that it is a good enough product to stand alone.
The main criticism I would have with Barclays' online banking service is one that I came across fairly early in the whole experience, and that is the application process. Not only does it take a while to get through the details on your new online account - two weeks in my case - but you are also only able to use the service on an existing account and, as you can imagine, this makes it
difficult for any non-Barclays customer to get online with what must be one of the best online banking services around. The question of whether or not it is worth opening an account with Barclays just to use their service is one that you will have to address. Despite the fact that most people seem fairly loath to change their current account holder, however, it is probably worth it if your current bank offers a poor online service. When we are talking about 0.1% interest practically across the board, there is little real difference between current accounts.
Barclays offer a fairly secure service, with details being viewed over a secure service and access requiring a 12 digit account number as well as your surname and a 5 digit passcode. Secure but easy to forget if you are not good with lots of figures, because you can;t change these to a more memorable number. Once inside the account you can view your balance and all of the transactions made on the account basically as far back as you want to. The transactions can be viewed in a simplified format or a detailed one, the latter showing whose account the money went into as well as the amount, date and payment type. This is all pretty straight forward, and you would expect as much from any online banking service, where Barclays stands out, however, is in the case of payment. Not only can you view your direct debits and regular payments online, you can cancel them with immediate effect. Also, you can make immediate payments from your account into any other account of which you have the details. With these facilities I have paid off my credit card bill at the click of a mouse, paid back my girlfriend for our last holiday and cancelled all of the random direct debits that had been set up on my account by a variety of fitness clubs, online brokers and electricity companies who I have no intention of ever using again.
The service is not overly easy to navigate, but it certainly isn't difficult and it is quick. Transactions turn up on your account almost as soon as they are processed - I once went to Lloyds at lunch to draw some money back and by the time I got back to my desk the transaction was already viewable - and the site has few technical problems. It has been down twice since I started using it six months ago.
All things considered, Barclays online banking is a superb tool that really does make your life a lot easier. Paying bills, checking your account, setting up direct debits and just staying on top of your money is made so much easeier and I can't remember the last time I actually went to the bank. In fact I have a real problem with cheques now as I hardly ever get round to paying them in and getting money via them has become a real inconvenience.
In terms of rates, I have to say that Barclays perform poorly. The interest on my current account is negligible and their savings accounts are far from top performers, but at the end of the day, it makes little difference. Few banks have anything approaching a noticable interest rate on their current accounts and I tend to pay any excess money into a savings account based elsewhere so what I can earn interest would barely be worth it anyway.
It's a great service and I recommend it to anyone. Whether you really want to step over the threshold of a Barclays Bank branch just to get the use of it is an entirely seperate matter, and one that might need a large amount of soul searching.
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Advantages: Easy to set-up, easy to use, security like fort knox Disadvantages: you have to wait for passcodes to come in post, you can't pay in money (obviously!!)
Katie-Jane 25.10.2002 ·
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Review of Barclays Bank Online
Advantages: Efficient, Good Variety of products, Best offered Cash ISA 2 years running Disadvantages: Try and sell you products that are not always beneficial to you.
BTreyo 18.04.2008 (18.04.2008)
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Review of BarclaysBank Accounts
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