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Forums Payment cards Barclaycard Avios Barclaycard – stuck in the 90s when it comes to online banking?

  • papapamate 8 posts

    Hi all,
    I signed up for a Barclaycard Avios in January (because my BA Amex is just not very useful / accepted in Europe most of the time).
    Since I signed up, I had nothing but problems with their app and website. It’s all a bit of a mess… Below, a summary of issues that nobody appears to be able to help me with:

    – Receiving emails that mention a card with the wrong last 4 digits
    – No chat online or on my apps
    – No way to check the avios balance on the app or website
    – Can’t authenticate payments via the app (no bell button)
    – Missing features that one would expect these days: No Google Wallet/Pay support, No easy way to download PDF statements

    I saw some people reporting similar issues – but is there a way to resolve them?

    Thanks a lot 🙂

    hapshade 6 posts

    Talk to Barclays, the card email sounds like a concerning issue.

    – You can chat to Barclays support via the ‘Barclays’ app, not sure if this feature is in the Barclaycard app or not.
    – You can check your Avios balance through the Barclays app, when you click on the card there’s a tab that’ll show you your accrued balance before it’s paid into your BAEC account.
    – Payments can be authenticated using app OTP via the Barclays app, there’s a notifications bell where you can access the prompt.
    – Barclaycard supports Apple Pay just fine.

    Andrew. 592 posts

    Having used online banking since 1990…

    HOBS Terminal

    The Barclaycard App is not how online banking looked in the 1990s

    Reney 828 posts

    on point 2 for me chat has disappeared and come back before. I may have had to re-download the app (can’t remember) but I think you have to de-active it and re-register so a faff. Also I feel like sometimes they switch it off.

    Per hapshade, I can see my avios balance click on your Barclaycard in your barclays app and then the pending avios bit above your transaction.

    Point 4 – after a couple of failed attempts at authorising payment, I only use the sms option now.

    Point 5 – iPhone user here. But I have downloaded credit card statement with no problems before. Can you explain what do you mean by no easy way?

    papapamate 8 posts

    oh yeah – and the “wrong last four digits in emails” is apparently a common issue that they are aware of (at least that’s what they told me)… Also not very reassuring is the fact that I reported this to the Barclay’s scam report email address last month and nobody replied

    papapamate 8 posts

    Hi all,

    Talk to Barclays, the card email sounds like a concerning issue.

    – You can chat to Barclays support via the ‘Barclays’ app, not sure if this feature is in the Barclaycard app or not.
    – You can check your Avios balance through the Barclays app, when you click on the card there’s a tab that’ll show you your accrued balance before it’s paid into your BAEC account.
    – Payments can be authenticated using app OTP via the Barclays app, there’s a notifications bell where you can access the prompt.
    – Barclaycard supports Apple Pay just fine.

    – Thanks for your help. I’ve been in touch with Barclays in the meantime (their Twitter team – and especially Becca seem like they actually know stuff and care about their customers :))
    – They resetted my online accounts and apps, I downloaded the Barclays app instead of the Barclaycard app – that didn’t help (although they are pretty much identical).
    – While they were very helpful – none of those steps fixed any of the issues for me… The digital team is now “investigating the issue” and I got a number of case reference numbers
    – The Avios balance doesn’t appear on that page for me – just the overall balance and transactions.
    – That’s the problem. There’s not even a notification bell in my app…
    – Yeah – looks like they support Apple users more than us Android users (although I got the latest Samsung S23 Ultra)… Nevertheless, the app doesn’t work on my ipad, either… The app is similarly feature-less on iPad as it is on my Android phone…

    on point 2 for me chat has disappeared and come back before. I may have had to re-download the app (can’t remember) but I think you have to de-active it and re-register so a faff. Also I feel like sometimes they switch it off.

    Per hapshade, I can see my avios balance click on your Barclaycard in your barclays app and then the pending avios bit above your transaction.

    Point 4 – after a couple of failed attempts at authorising payment, I only use the sms option now.

    Point 5 – iPhone user here. But I have downloaded credit card statement with no problems before. Can you explain what do you mean by no easy way?

    – Yeah – only been with Barclaycard since the end of January (as Amex is just not as widely accepted in Europe) – so the chat was never available for me – neither on their website or via the app
    – Yep – can’t see any avios on my app or on the website
    – Yeah – I don’t even have the option to authorize via the app… I don’t even have a way to unlock the app with my fingerprint reader
    – Credit card statements are annoying to print/save via Chrome… They even acknowledge that: https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/help/statements/chrome

    Having used online banking since 1990…

    HOBS Terminal

    The Barclaycard App is not how online banking looked in the 1990s

    I get your point – I was of course trying to exaggerate – but this featureless mess definitely reminds me of early banking apps / websites in the 2000s

    papapamate 8 posts

    OK… After a few months of tinkering we finally managed to get it all working on my devices (android and ios). In my case the issue was that I had too many middle names and the internal records in Barclays system did not match with the initials on my card… Had to go to a Barclays branch and get my passport stamped and then send this by post to Barclays to get the name on my card changed…
    Now it all works – chat, avios statement, etc etc etc…

    MASSIVE THANKS TO THE BARCLAYCARD TWITTER TEAM! COULDN’T HAVE MANAGED WITHOUT YOU

    PS: Barlcays also said that the wrong 4 digits in the emails is a “common issue” and I shouldn’t worry about it… Not very reassuring from a cybersecurity standpoint

    aseftel 289 posts

    PS: Barlcays also said that the wrong 4 digits in the emails is a “common issue” and I shouldn’t worry about it… Not very reassuring from a cybersecurity standpoint

    Not necessarily a security issue. My bet would be that they are mistakenly pulling the last four digits of some sort of internal account number, rather than your PAN.

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