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Forums Payment cards Barclaycard Avios Application still pending

  • JL 5 posts

    I’ve applied for the Barclaycard avios Plus card a about 3 weeks ago, but despite having a Barclays current account and using the same details for the application, my application is still pending as they “check some details” however this seems a long time. Has anyone else experienced this before? I had a Hilton BC before but closed 2 or more years ago so I don’t think that should affect it.

    SteveCroydon 102 posts

    Sounds like Barclay’s IT systems are as bad as BA’s. I suspect the application has fallen down the back of a server, never to be processed on a queue of work. Last week someone posted on HfP about an application that was still pending since September 2024 – absolute nonsense!!
    Try calling and good luck.

    Congratulations to me, this is my 100th post! Please send money or Avios, thanks.

    Skywalker 933 posts

    Congratulations to me, this is my 100th post! Please send money or Avios, thanks.

    That’s nothing on @NorthernLass – she has over 10K posts! 😀

    StanTheMan 261 posts

    I am in same situation. Tomorrow will be 4 weeks since applying.
    Several calls have said same thing – they are “checking some things” – but havent asked me for any further details/proof of income etc.

    I also closed a Barclays Avios card over 2 years ago.

    gustavo 65 posts

    Definitely odd. I have a barclays current account and had the avios plus card more than 2 years ago and applied in the beginning of January and got an approved message straight away, so I would definitely call them to see what’s going on. I was even able to start using the card with details from the app (on the day after I was approved) before having it physically so it feels things have improved a bit – but then your case shows that maybe not?

    StanTheMan 261 posts

    I call weekly to get the same response – “You will hear via letter when the decision is made”

    memesweeper 1,541 posts

    I’ve lodged a formal complaint after waiting four weeks. I was promised a call back by close of play today (needless to say, that didn’t happen). I was convinced the application was just “lost”… as I see others are affected I’m beginning to think they have a problem, or a policy, they are not telling us about.

    JDB 6,161 posts

    I’ve lodged a formal complaint after waiting four weeks. I was promised a call back by close of play today (needless to say, that didn’t happen). I was convinced the application was just “lost”… as I see others are affected I’m beginning to think they have a problem, or a policy, they are not telling us about.

    Barclays, like other legacy banks, is incredibly compliance and process driven. If the details in your application don’t match very, very precisely match any records they have or the external sources they use, the application will go for manual review by various teams. Amex, fintechs or pure credit card providers are very different to the banks who are terrified of making mistakes, so if there’s something picked up during the automated process they can be very slow. There doesn’t need to be anything serious, it might be a very small inconsequential detail that’s temporarily blocking approval.

    AJA 1,359 posts

    Interesting info from @JDB. Still doesn’t excuse Barclays. I mean how long does it take to manually review an application? And I hope they don’t blame it on workload or only having a small team to do the manual reviews as that would suggest an awful lot of initial rejections.

    This is one reason of several why I hang on to my Hhonors Barclaycard. I would rather forego Avios than be stuck in limbo waiting for some compliance employees to actually do something. And I don’t like the idea of having to wait 6 months after cancelling my existing card in order to apply for an Avios card and hope that I am approved.

    jimbo1084 2 posts

    Hi – I had exactly the same over Christmas – waited approx 3 weeks. Only after I complained did they admit that the application was stuck in the ether. The initial response was for me to wait 6 months. I challenged that and they eventually did a manual cancellation of the application.

    My learn was give up on the original application, raise a complaint and get the original app manually cancelled. It’s a faff, but better than the alternative.

    Good luck!

    JL 5 posts

    Hi – I had exactly the same over Christmas – waited approx 3 weeks. Only after I complained did they admit that the application was stuck in the ether. The initial response was for me to wait 6 months. I challenged that and they eventually did a manual cancellation of the application.

    My learn was give up on the original application, raise a complaint and get the original app manually cancelled. It’s a faff, but better than the alternative.

    Good luck!

    Were you able to reapply after that or was it more to get closure on the application being pending?

    Matt 453 posts

    They seem very disorganised/slow/rubbish at opening accounts. Took me weeks and a formal complaint to get my account open last year, and even after all that it started with a £200 credit limit until I’d sent in payslips etc. Not encountered anything similar from any other bank.

    Misty 417 posts

    I ended up going into a Branch to sort out my Avios Barclaycard, the person dealing with me had to ring up the same rubbish phone line we have to call.

    She was getting nowhere with the phone agent she was dealing with, so she silently mouthed to be ‘I’m going to hang up and try again’. The irony. She was brilliant and spent ages sorting it out and getting my card unfrozen. Sometimes you just can’t beat face to face service, provided you go in with the right attitude.

    memesweeper 1,541 posts

    Complaint paid off, card in the post. For anyone waiting over a fortnight I’d recommend the same approach — something had indeed gone wrong with their processing.

    Misty 417 posts

    Complaint paid off, card in the post. For anyone waiting over a fortnight I’d recommend the same approach — something had indeed gone wrong with their processing.

    Glad it got sorted.

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