I know it is fairly common practice to have a go at the major banks – they make too much money, charge their customers too much and don’t care about customer service. Well, I’d like to give another side to the story.
I opened my first bank account with Barclays when I started my first job, as I needed somewhere for my wages to be paid. As my parents had always banked with Barclays it seemed the logical place to go. I chose to open a current account and I also had a cashpoint card (no credit cards as I was under 18). I was very happy with the service I received and have continued to bank with Barclays for the last 14 years.
So, what do they offer?
PRODUCTS
As with any major financial institution, they offer a variety of products to suit customer’s needs.
Current Accounts – the main backbone of any financial institution is its’ current account. When I opened my first account, there was no choice. You had a basic account with a chequebook and a cashpoint card. Now, there are different accounts available – the Additions account and the Flexible account. With an Additions account, you receive an automatic £250 overdraft facility, although higher facilities are available by negotiation. You also receive £5000 of Life Insurance. This costs £6 per month, plus a preferential interest rate up to your agreed limit. If you exceed the limit, a higher rate of interest plus unauthorised overdraft charges are payable. The flexible account has no charges, but no benefits either. An overdraft is available on request.
Cashpoint Cards – the main cashpoint card is the Connect Card. Not only does this give you access to your funds through cashpoint
machines, it also acts as a cheque guarantee card (£50 or £100 limits available) and as a debit card. This means that you can pay for goods or services using your card and the amount is debited directly to your account. The Connect card is a Visa/Delta card. If you do not qualify for a Connect card, you may be entitled to an Electron card. Again, it works in cashpoint machines, but is not a cheque guarantee card. Some retail outlets do accept it as a payment card, but it is not as widely accepted as Visa.
Savings Accounts – banks are notoriously bad at paying good rates of interest on savings accounts and, sadly, Barclays is no exception. There are a range of branch-based savings products from instant access to those requiring 60 days notice. They offer varying rates of interest depending on the amount saved. If you like the convenience of having all your financial products under one roof, then fine. Otherwise you will probably get a better rate elsewhere!
Other savings products – Barclays also offer a range of savings products that are maintained at a specialised, central savings branch. You can take your pick from ISA’s, bonds and other products.
Barclayloans – this is Barclays personal loan. Available in amounts between £500 and £25000 and for anything from 1 to 10 years, it is a fixed rate, unsecured loan. Repayments are made on a monthly basis from your Barclays current account. Barclayloans are available to non-customers, however you would need to set up a standing order from your bank account for repayments. Interest rates differ depending on the amount borrowed and, from time to time, there are discounted rates available. Insurance is available at an extra cost to cover you for sickness, redundancy or death. Unlike some loan companies, Barclays do not charge all the interest at the beginning of the loan – interest is charged monthly. Therefore if you decide to repay the borrowing early, you will only pay interest up to the date of full repayment.
Mortgages – Barclays do offer a range of mortgage products, and this range has increased following their recent take-over of the Woolwich. You can take your pick from base-rate trackers, fixed rates, capped rates and flexible mortgages. Most branches have a mortgage specialist who can offer information on the most suitable product to meet your needs.
Protection – Barclays also offers various products which offer protection to you and your family – life insurance, critical illness cover, pensions and so on. Barclays has its own representatives from Barclays Life Assurance who deal with these products. The recent tie-up with Legal & General means they are also now able to offer products from other companies.
Credit Cards – possibly one of the best known credit cards is Barclaycard. This is Barclays own card and is available as a Visa card or a MasterCard.
Business accounts – Barclays does not just cater for personal customers. They also have a wide range of products designed for business of all sizes, from sole traders, clubs, partnerships, and limited companies up to PLC’s. Business managers are available in all outlets to discuss your needs.
ONLINE BANKING
Via its website (www.barclays.co.uk) you can access your accounts 24 hours a day. The online banking facility enables you to check balances, make bill payments, transfer funds, send money to other banks and amend your regular payments.
I find this to be a very useful facility. For example, with the bill payment option you can set up a payment in advance, meaning that when your bill arrives, you can input the details for the correct date and forget about it! No having to remember when the payment is due and making a mad dash to the bank!
TELEPHONE BANKING
Another 24 hour a day operation, people who do not have (or do not want to use) internet access can telephone and arrange payments and transfers or check balances. Not something I have used personally, as I prefer to use the internet banking facility.
CHARGES
Although not really something the bank offers, I feel I have to comment on this as people have their own opinions on them! If your account exceeds its overdraft facility by more than £50, you will be charged £20. This may happen on up to 3 occasions per month! However, if an item is returned unpaid and you have been charged an account fee, you will not also be charged a fee for the returned item. But, if you have already used your allocation of account fees, you will be charged £25 per item returned unpaid. Therefore, it pays to keep track of your bank account or arrange an increased facility if you think you will need it!
There are no transaction charges on personal accounts, although there are on business accounts. On personal accounts, all normal banking transactions are free, although some specific services (such as Bank Drafts) do attract a fee. Statements are free providing you do not want more than one per month. If you do, you will be charged.
BRANCHES
Barclays has over 2000 branches in the UK, so there should be one close to most people! They were criticised fairly recently for closing some of the more rural branches, but these were generally branches that were not bery well used.
Branches range in size from those with just a couple of cashiers and a personal banker, to large branches with many people working there. Cashpoint machines are widely available, both in branches and in some remote locations (garages, supermarkets etc).
STAFF
Barclays employs over 70000 staff. Although many of these are in branches, there are many, many more working behind the scenes to ensure operations work smoothly. The Bank’s computer centres are based at Wythenshawe and Gloucester and they have a Regular Payments centre in Dudley. Debt Recovery Units and Risk Service Units are dotted around the country to take the paperwork out of branches and leave the staff within the branches to do what they do best – serve customers. This segmentation of work also allows those staff who wish to work in a specialist area – such as Debt Recovery – to concentrate on their area of expertise and thus provide a better service.
As with all organisations, I am sure there are members of staff who fall short of the requirements and I’m sure that people will leave comments on this opinion detailing their own bad experiences with staff. However, I have to say that I have always found Barclays staff to be courteous and knowledgeable within their specific area.
OVERVIEW
As I said at the beginning, a lot of people like to have a go at the major banks. Barclays is no exception to this. They come in for bad publicity from time to time and I have no doubt that there are some people who have genuine grievances about the way they have been treated. Barclays recent advertising campaign proclaiming them to be the ‘Big Bank’ may have been a mistake – I have heard people say that they are a big bank that makes big profits as well as big mistakes!
However, in my 14 years of dealing with the bank, I have not had any major problems. Maybe that is because I maintain my account in credit or, if I think I may go overdrawn I arrange an overdraft facility first. When I visit a branch the staff are always pleasant and if I need to telephone for any reason my queries are always dealt with quickly and efficiently.
I also have to say that when I was stupid enough to leave my handbag in my car – and it was stolen – the staff who dealt with my calls to cancel my cards and cheque books were extremely helpful and reassuring, despite the somewhat hysterical nature of my call!
I have banked with Barclays happily for the past 14 years and I have no doubt I will continue to do so for the next 14 and beyond!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Very nicely written, detailed op about the advantages of Barclay's- it is nice to hear of good service! Christine
SparkyDeighton 20.02.2002 01:27
Extremely comprehensive op. Not thinking of changing yet but I would know where to look . Mark
dibalmond 19.02.2002 22:21
I have banked with Barclays for over 20 years and in that time any problem I have had has been minor and easily sorted out. I do most of my banking online with Barclays and it is really easy...thanks di
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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Feb 18th, 2002
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