Barclays

THIS IS A REVIEW FOR THEIR CREDIT CARD
I bought a Mac last June and though we checked to see what amount of credit I could get I DID NOT want to open a card. But we called Barclay from the store and they said, basically, «too bad» it’s open. And they couldn’t do anything about it. Now, this January 2011, they closed the card without telling due to inactivity and never gave me the opportunity to make the decision if I would rather close it myself (and take the credit hit) or give me the chance to use it. They closed it without ever warning me. Also, since I opened the card I NEVER received any mail or information about my account or that it might close after 6 months. Then when I called I got the «too bad» and they can do nothing to help me. All because of their «too bad» attitude and «who cares» if we send her anything to let her know how HER account is, my credit will be taking a hit. I can’t stop getting mail from other credit card companies but I can’t get one piece of mail Barclay. I am livid. I work really hard to keep my credit in good standing and am responsible with my bills so that I don’t have to deal with this BS. How dare they. This is not fair. Then they claimed to have sent me information about how they close accounts whenever they feel like it… AFTER I filed a complaint with the BBB

Barclay’s is part of the Global ATM Alliance which is a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of their banks to use their ATM card or debit card at another bank within the Global ATM Alliance with no International ATM Access fees.
I use Bank of America so Barclay’s is the place I withdraw money when I am in London. Too much withdrawing of money will kill you. O_​_​o

If you’re a foreigner moving to the UK, you’re bound to hear the horror stories that go something like this:
You can’t open a bank account without having a permanent address but it’s also virtually impossible to get a flat without a bank account. Or a mobile phone for that matter.
My advice? Go to Barclays.
When I arrived at this fancy bank, I couldn’t figure out whom to speak with and everyone was busy so I just joined the queue to chat with a teller. I explained my needs and she came out from behind the counter, conferred with colleagues, set me up with an appointment for the next morning and told me which documents to bring.
I’m quite certain that what she did was above and beyond the call of duty. I was extremely grateful for her kindness.
For folks freaked out by opening an account, chill out, and bring the following:
— 2 forms of identification (passport, driving license)
— bank statements from your foreign account
— a UK address (they’ll mail your pin, debit card, etc here)
— an employment contract
The following day I returned to Barclays and got my account. A big thank you to Nina who helped sort me out. Moving to London can be overwhelming — I appreciate that opening a British bank account with Barclays wasn’t!
Now, who can tell me how to get an offshore savings account run from the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man?

This branch is like a Star Trek holodeck. The place smells and looks so clinical, I truly expected staff to beam in. This is the most impressive and new age bank I have ever seen. Downstairs has accounting booths and a set of cash and deposit points. Upstairs has the cash desk windows and plentiful booths for intimate chats with bankers. There were enough staff members on the floor that I was met and greeted twice, once on each floor. This branch is very impressive. As much as I hate to say it: well done Barclays.

I really don’t care much about what kind of bank account I have, but there are two things that really annoy me about Barclays Bank.
1. As an international student, the only account I could get was the
’International Student Account’. This bank account is exactly like every other basic bank account, except for one charming feature: every month that my balance happens to dip below £2000 (two thousand pounds, that’s right), they charge me a fiver. Yes, students are widely known to hoard large sums of money
in their bank accounts (we only pretend to be broke so that other people will pay for us).
2. Whenever I lodge a cheque, it takes Barclays Bank a week (that’s right, a whole week) to process it. After a few days the money will be in my account in a special sort of way, in the sense that I can’t yet withdraw it (‘insufficient funds’), but it appears on my balance on screen, to taunt me.
AAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!
Oh well. Soon I’ll be taking my extremely large amounts of money with me and go to Lloyds. Eat dirt, Barclays.