Barclays Premier Banking – now available to all (for a fee)

[Toma]

Received an email this morning that my Barclays Premier Banking will remain free (great).

From September 2022 though it’s being opened up to anyone regardless of eligiblity criteria for a £20 Fee
https://www.barclays.co.uk/premier-banking/

Can we expect improved benefits on the current account in the coming months?

Personally I’ve used +£1000 cash withdrawl and free international money transfer on occasion but not enough to justify £20 per month, so not sure who they are trying to target by creating a fee paying option into Barclays Premier

[John]

Maybe a metal card as certain people seem to like paying for one

[QFFlyer]

Toma wrote:

Can we expect improved benefits on the current account in the coming months?

I very much doubt it, but happy to be proved wrong. I only got it for the Avios signup bonus, the 1,500 per month for £12 is a tolerable cost, so I’ve kept it.

[_aDifferentSimon_]

Charging 20 for this sounds like miss selling. I would have thought they would have to get customers to sign something so clear saying that they understand they will get not a lot for their 240 / year.
I’ve had it for a few years. Doesn’t seem to offer anything significant over a “free” account (anymore). It certainly no competition to paid accounts like Nationswide’s Flexplus.

[AndyGWP]

_aDifferentSimon_ wrote:

Charging 20 for this sounds like miss selling. I would have thought they would have to get customers to sign something so clear saying that they understand they will get not a lot for their 240 / year.
I’ve had it for a few years. Doesn’t seem to offer anything significant over a “free” account (anymore). It certainly no competition to paid accounts like Nationswide’s Flexplus.

Agree – had it years and they’ve diluted it to almost nothing.

The only advantage in recent times (last October) is we got a good (unbeatable according to comparison sites) mortgage from it 👍🏻

[Luca M]

I think the £20 fee is to encourage customer that qualified in the first place and then stopped using it as a main account, to use it again or at least circulate enough funds into it. I do not think they are marketing it as open to all as the requirements to qualify for one are still on the website, just an additional condition that if you then do not meet the minimum paying in criteria, you need to pay for it.

Barclays had a packaged account called Premier with a monthly fee, and no qualification criteria years ago, but was discontinued and infamously made the news as customer were told they could no longer have the account because they did not earn enough.

There were few nice perks until 3-4 years ago (free daily coffee, English Heritage membership, etc) that were discontinued but again the Premier Mortgage rates and large cash withdrawal limits are good perks for a free account.

[lordy]

They used to charge £17.50 for Premier Life for eligible parties and £25 for non eligible ones but this included various insurances. a £7.50 difference i think was acceptable, but an additonal £20 is too much for non eligible to look at surely. Unless they sign up and leave in 3 months.

[Luca M]

Again, I think you still have to qualify with either £75k gross salary/earning or £50k saving invested with Barclays.

The new “rules” simply state that if you then do not pay a minimum amount (as described), they will charge you, but the T&C to qualify for the Premier Account has not changed.

Premier life was a packaged account and you were paying to get some service/functionality..

With the current Premier account you are only supposedly get a faster customer service response, access to better rates mortgages and loans, and the possibility to withdraw at the ATM up to £2k now, I do not think this is enough to warrant a fee.

HDBC in contrast throws is a quite comprensive Travel Insurance for the whole family, and there is no charge for the account at all.

[Roy]

Luca M wrote:

I think the £20 fee is to encourage customer that qualified in the first place and then stopped using it as a main account, to use it again or at least circulate enough funds into it. I do not think they are marketing it as open to all as the requirements to qualify for one are still on the website, just an additional condition that if you then do not meet the minimum paying in criteria, you need to pay for it.

Agreed – looks like the eligibility requirements are still there. However, if you subsequently stop meeting them and they (at their discretion) allow you to keep the account, they’ll charge you £20 a month for the privilege. I believe HSBC does/did sometimes offer a similar option, too. No guarantee they’ll let you keep the account indefinitely, though – probably unlikely unless you are at least somewhat close to the qualifying criteria (they do say they’ll be in touch to explain your options).

There’s rather more to the changes, though. The eligibility requirement if you qualify on the basis of income has changed. Previously you just had to have an annual income of at least £75,000 – no stated requirement to have it paid into the Barclays account as far as I recall (although I don’t know what happened in practice if you didn’t). Now there’s a specific requirement to deposit at least £3,330 per calendar month or £40,000 over a rolling 12 month period into the Premier account. (Note that this only applies if you are qualifying on the basis of income – there’s no minimum deposit requirement if you are qualifying on the basis of savings and investments.)

The charge will be applied automatically on a month-by-month basis, by the look of it, rather than on the basis of a manual review, so I doubt there’s much opportunity to avoid it.

[Roy]

Luca M wrote:

Again, I think you still have to qualify with either £75k gross salary/earning or £50k saving invested with Barclays.

£100k savings/investments. £50k is HSBC.

[Luca M]

Roy wrote:

Luca M wrote:

Again, I think you still have to qualify with either £75k gross salary/earning or £50k saving invested with Barclays.

£100k savings/investments. £50k is HSBC.

Thanks for the correction, must have got mixed up (I have both).

As a matter of fact I have always circulated my monthly salary/income through all my accounts since I was at Uni and had multiple student accounts as I realised almost immediately that this had an impact on offers coming through of increased credit cards limits and similar.

I have actually received an email from Barclays about a month ago confirming that Premier would still be free for me.

When I upgraded to Premier with HSBC I was paying my salary, dividends and other income directly into it and they still required an appointment in Branch to show them my P60 and tax return 🙈.

But back to Barclays Premier change, it is important to stress that it is not opened to anyone just by paying a fee; you need to first qualify for it and then if you do not meet the pay in requirement, you will have to pay.

[comeocome]

Pretty new to this.. If you are using Premier banking Barclays, do you get invited for its visa infinite card? If so, how long do you have to wait for it?

[comeocome]

Luca M wrote:

Roy wrote:

Luca M wrote:

Again, I think you still have to qualify with either £75k gross salary/earning or £50k saving invested with Barclays.

£100k savings/investments. £50k is HSBC.

Thanks for the correction, must have got mixed up (I have both).

As a matter of fact I have always circulated my monthly salary/income through all my accounts since I was at Uni and had multiple student accounts as I realised almost immediately that this had an impact on offers coming through of increased credit cards limits and similar.

I have actually received an email from Barclays about a month ago confirming that Premier would still be free for me.

When I upgraded to Premier with HSBC I was paying my salary, dividends and other income directly into it and they still required an appointment in Branch to show them my P60 and tax return 🙈.

But back to Barclays Premier change, it is important to stress that it is not opened to anyone just by paying a fee; you need to first qualify for it and then if you do not meet the pay in requirement, you will have to pay.

Sorry what do you mean by “this had an impact on offers coming through of increased credit cards limits and similar”? So is it a good idea to have multiple accounts by recycling/ transferring funds between them?

[Luca M]

It is always good to have multiple accounts in my opinion. Most banks have access to true earning via share data scheme anyway for product/credit application so you cannot fake it to get access to premium products and/or credit facilities, but actually using those accounts by circulating your salary and earning through them means that you get offers, access to service etc.. (the reference to the student days was due to getting credit cards by multiple banks as a student just because I circulated my earning (part time work plus parents fundings) with each bank.

[Luca M]

comeocome wrote:

Pretty new to this.. If you are using Premier banking Barclays, do you get invited for its visa infinite card? If so, how long do you have to wait for it?

The Barclays/Barclaycard Infinite cards (there are two slightly different variants out there but the branding is exactly the same) are actually not offered to Premier Customers (I have been one for many years and had conversations with my Premier Manager about it when the version replacing the i24 was first launched) and are only offered to Barclays Wealth/Private clients or grandfathered to customers that held the i24 card (itself a rebranding of the acquired Morgan Stanley i24)

[baVid]

Has anyone here seen anything to confirm this £20 fee is indeed just applied to people who previously qualified and now don’t.

Whilst I can see the logic in that, when looking at ths website it seems worded to mean that this Premier open to all, but fee free for those that meet certain criteria – here is the wording:

To be eligible for free Premier Banking, you’ll need to have a current account with us and:

An annual gross income of £75,000 or more paid into it – at least £3,330 each month or £40,000 over the previous 12 months
or
At least £100,000 in savings with us and/or Barclays UK investments

If you don’t meet the criteria for free Premier Banking, there’ll be a £20 monthly fee. We’ll review your eligibility regularly and if at any point you don’t qualify, we’ll contact you to explain your options.

https://www.barclays.co.uk/premier-banking/current-accounts/

This wording (specifically using the term “free Premier Banking” does open the door to fee paying Premier banking (and hence Avios plus access on top).

I currently qualify for the former criteria but Player 2 could only qualify for the latter criteria. Given that the interest rates on Barclays savings products is woeful, tieing up £100k with them for up to 6 months can pretty much cost £1000 vs the competition which completely neutralises the proposition.

I’ve searched for terms and conditions that speak to this point, but I can’t find anything.

[Carlos]

Can someone confirm if you can upgrade a personal Barclays bank to premier, then make a switch to qualify for the 25,000 bonus? (not to be confused with the 100k bonus)

I called in today and the CS seems to say there has been others that have done this, however the terms and conditions do not make it clear (they specify you must be a new Premier user but not necessarily new to Barclays i.e. personal customer which is free)

It would be a shame to switch and not get the bonus in the end (I qualify for the min. income requirement which I presume waivers off the monthly fee)

[aq.1988]

baVid wrote:

Has anyone here seen anything to confirm this £20 fee is indeed just applied to people who previously qualified and now don’t.

Whilst I can see the logic in that, when looking at ths website it seems worded to mean that this Premier open to all, but fee free for those that meet certain criteria – here is the wording:

To be eligible for free Premier Banking, you’ll need to have a current account with us and:

An annual gross income of £75,000 or more paid into it – at least £3,330 each month or £40,000 over the previous 12 months
or
At least £100,000 in savings with us and/or Barclays UK investments

If you don’t meet the criteria for free Premier Banking, there’ll be a £20 monthly fee. We’ll review your eligibility regularly and if at any point you don’t qualify, we’ll contact you to explain your options.

https://www.barclays.co.uk/premier-banking/current-accounts/

This wording (specifically using the term “free Premier Banking” does open the door to fee paying Premier banking (and hence Avios plus access on top).

I currently qualify for the former criteria but Player 2 could only qualify for the latter criteria. Given that the interest rates on Barclays savings products is woeful, tieing up £100k with them for up to 6 months can pretty much cost £1000 vs the competition which completely neutralises the proposition.

I’ve searched for terms and conditions that speak to this point, but I can’t find anything.

Hi there,

I meet the eligibility criteria for free Premier banking, and upgraded in the app.

I received a welcome letter outlining the requirements and that there’s a £20 monthly fee if you dont, but crucially it says “if you’re a new Premier banking customer however, we won’t start to assess your eligibility until you’ve had your Premier account with us for 12 months. In the meantime, although it will apply to the terms of your account, we’ll waive the fee, and you’ll be able to access the benefits of Premier Banking for free.”

My wife doesn’t meet the requirement but upgraded to Premier Banking in the app (she already had the Avios Plus card and a standard Barclays current account). It asked questions about her income, but she was instantly approved, there was no mention of the £20 fee. She then signed up for Avios Rewards at a cost of £12pm.

We were a bit worried if she would qualify for the 100k bonus or not, as she didn’t meet the criteria for free Premier banking, but asked in chat and a call to CS, and they both confirmed she would be.

As we all know that agents could be wrong, we still weren’t 100% confident, but then she also received the email that went out this week confirming she would get the 100k bonus. She also received the same letter above as I did, so she will just downgrade back to a standard current account once the 100k posts.

[Aston100]

That is a great data point

[cska]

aq.1988 wrote:

baVid wrote:

Has anyone here seen anything to confirm this £20 fee is indeed just applied to people who previously qualified and now don’t.

Whilst I can see the logic in that, when looking at ths website it seems worded to mean that this Premier open to all, but fee free for those that meet certain criteria – here is the wording:

To be eligible for free Premier Banking, you’ll need to have a current account with us and:

An annual gross income of £75,000 or more paid into it – at least £3,330 each month or £40,000 over the previous 12 months
or
At least £100,000 in savings with us and/or Barclays UK investments

If you don’t meet the criteria for free Premier Banking, there’ll be a £20 monthly fee. We’ll review your eligibility regularly and if at any point you don’t qualify, we’ll contact you to explain your options.

https://www.barclays.co.uk/premier-banking/current-accounts/

This wording (specifically using the term “free Premier Banking” does open the door to fee paying Premier banking (and hence Avios plus access on top).

I currently qualify for the former criteria but Player 2 could only qualify for the latter criteria. Given that the interest rates on Barclays savings products is woeful, tieing up £100k with them for up to 6 months can pretty much cost £1000 vs the competition which completely neutralises the proposition.

I’ve searched for terms and conditions that speak to this point, but I can’t find anything.

Hi there,

I meet the eligibility criteria for free Premier banking, and upgraded in the app.

I received a welcome letter outlining the requirements and that there’s a £20 monthly fee if you dont, but crucially it says “if you’re a new Premier banking customer however, we won’t start to assess your eligibility until you’ve had your Premier account with us for 12 months. In the meantime, although it will apply to the terms of your account, we’ll waive the fee, and you’ll be able to access the benefits of Premier Banking for free.”

My wife doesn’t meet the requirement but upgraded to Premier Banking in the app (she already had the Avios Plus card and a standard Barclays current account). It asked questions about her income, but she was instantly approved, there was no mention of the £20 fee. She then signed up for Avios Rewards at a cost of £12pm.

We were a bit worried if she would qualify for the 100k bonus or not, as she didn’t meet the criteria for free Premier banking, but asked in chat and a call to CS, and they both confirmed she would be.

As we all know that agents could be wrong, we still weren’t 100% confident, but then she also received the email that went out this week confirming she would get the 100k bonus. She also received the same letter above as I did, so she will just downgrade back to a standard current account once the 100k posts.

Sorry, so to clarify your wife mentioned she has an annual gross income less than £75,000 but was still approved for the Premier account with no fee? I am in the same situation of not qualifying based on annual income but struggling to see why Barclays have a requirement for minimum income if they will accept applications regardless. Did she mention on her application that she would qualify by paying in a salary of 100k?

Thanks!

[cska]

aq.1988 wrote:

baVid wrote:

Has anyone here seen anything to confirm this £20 fee is indeed just applied to people who previously qualified and now don’t.

Whilst I can see the logic in that, when looking at ths website it seems worded to mean that this Premier open to all, but fee free for those that meet certain criteria – here is the wording:

To be eligible for free Premier Banking, you’ll need to have a current account with us and:

An annual gross income of £75,000 or more paid into it – at least £3,330 each month or £40,000 over the previous 12 months
or
At least £100,000 in savings with us and/or Barclays UK investments

If you don’t meet the criteria for free Premier Banking, there’ll be a £20 monthly fee. We’ll review your eligibility regularly and if at any point you don’t qualify, we’ll contact you to explain your options.

https://www.barclays.co.uk/premier-banking/current-accounts/

This wording (specifically using the term “free Premier Banking” does open the door to fee paying Premier banking (and hence Avios plus access on top).

I currently qualify for the former criteria but Player 2 could only qualify for the latter criteria. Given that the interest rates on Barclays savings products is woeful, tieing up £100k with them for up to 6 months can pretty much cost £1000 vs the competition which completely neutralises the proposition.

I’ve searched for terms and conditions that speak to this point, but I can’t find anything.

Hi there,

I meet the eligibility criteria for free Premier banking, and upgraded in the app.

I received a welcome letter outlining the requirements and that there’s a £20 monthly fee if you dont, but crucially it says “if you’re a new Premier banking customer however, we won’t start to assess your eligibility until you’ve had your Premier account with us for 12 months. In the meantime, although it will apply to the terms of your account, we’ll waive the fee, and you’ll be able to access the benefits of Premier Banking for free.”

My wife doesn’t meet the requirement but upgraded to Premier Banking in the app (she already had the Avios Plus card and a standard Barclays current account). It asked questions about her income, but she was instantly approved, there was no mention of the £20 fee. She then signed up for Avios Rewards at a cost of £12pm.

We were a bit worried if she would qualify for the 100k bonus or not, as she didn’t meet the criteria for free Premier banking, but asked in chat and a call to CS, and they both confirmed she would be.

As we all know that agents could be wrong, we still weren’t 100% confident, but then she also received the email that went out this week confirming she would get the 100k bonus. She also received the same letter above as I did, so she will just downgrade back to a standard current account once the 100k posts.

Sorry, so to clarify your wife mentioned she has an annual gross income less than £75,000 but was still approved for the Premier account with no fee? I am in the same situation of not qualifying based on annual income but struggling to see why Barclays have a requirement for minimum income if they will accept applications regardless. Did she mention on her application that she would qualify by paying in a salary of 100k?

Thanks!

[aq.1988]

Yes, when in the Barclays app, there is an option to upgrade to Premier banking.

She clicked on it, and it asked her annual income, and net income per month. She pressed submit (her income is quite low because she never went back to work after our daughter was born in 2020), and was instantly approved. Weirdly, there was no pop-up asking if we were sure we wanted to apply for Premier banking or anything like that, it was literally a single screen.

She didn’t mention anything about £100k in savings, she currently has about £60k i think, and that’s as high as its ever been. The net income requirement is £40k into your account over the last 12 months, and she wouldn’t have met that either.

The letter received says they wont even check for 12 months.

Are you currently with Barclays?

[cska]

Deleted as duplicate

[cska]

Deleted as duplicate

aq.1988 wrote:

Yes, when in the Barclays app, there is an option to upgrade to Premier banking.

She clicked on it, and it asked her annual income, and net income per month. She pressed submit (her income is quite low because she never went back to work after our daughter was born in 2020), and was instantly approved. Weirdly, there was no pop-up asking if we were sure we wanted to apply for Premier banking or anything like that, it was literally a single screen.

She didn’t mention anything about £100k in savings, she currently has about £60k i think, and that’s as high as its ever been. The net income requirement is £40k into your account over the last 12 months, and she wouldn’t have met that either.

The letter received says they wont even check for 12 months.

Are you currently with Barclays?

No, not currently. Wondering whether this would therefore work for me.

[aq.1988]

cska wrote:

Deleted as duplicate

aq.1988 wrote:

Yes, when in the Barclays app, there is an option to upgrade to Premier banking.

She clicked on it, and it asked her annual income, and net income per month. She pressed submit (her income is quite low because she never went back to work after our daughter was born in 2020), and was instantly approved. Weirdly, there was no pop-up asking if we were sure we wanted to apply for Premier banking or anything like that, it was literally a single screen.

She didn’t mention anything about £100k in savings, she currently has about £60k i think, and that’s as high as its ever been. The net income requirement is £40k into your account over the last 12 months, and she wouldn’t have met that either.

The letter received says they wont even check for 12 months.

Are you currently with Barclays?

No, not currently. Wondering whether this would therefore work for me.

It may be because she already had a current account with them but couldn’t say if that’s the reason they are not going to check for 12 months, or if they do that for all new customers. The letter is encouraging though.