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Forums Payment cards Barclaycard Avios Premier Banking qualification checks back on

  • JohnTh 67 posts

    It seems Barclays have started checking the income or savings qualifications on Premier renewal now – just been advised we will be downgraded in March. Good while it lasted but not putting that amount of savings with them.

    JDB 6,179 posts

    It seems Barclays have started checking the income or savings qualifications on Premier renewal now – just been advised we will be downgraded in March. Good while it lasted but not putting that amount of savings with them.

    I don’t think those checks ever went away (although they have a discretionary element) but they did suspend the £20/month charge which was supposed to apply as a dissuasive fee if you didn’t meet the criteria but nevertheless wished to retain the account.

    To be fair to Barclays, there’s little point in having a supposedly Premier product with specific income requirements if they don’t enforce it. This will also enable them to improve the product which now lags behind the ‘premier’ offerings of its major competitors.

    JohnTh 67 posts

    True – we weren’t offered the £20 option this time.

    laughingplace 43 posts

    Just need to transfer in/out £40k then you’re good for the year.

    Rob
    HfP Staff
    2,702 posts

    True – we weren’t offered the £20 option this time.

    The £20 option has been scrapped.

    anuj 118 posts

    I don’t see the value in moving investments from someone like vanguard to Barclays, Natwest etc with their inevitably higher fees. In the case of Barclays Premier the useful benefits really only apply if you have their Avios card. HSBC is a bit more marginal, last time I checked the fees for investing in HSBC funds was similar to Vanguard.

    namster 77 posts

    also received the same that my premier account would be closed in February unless a minimum of 3300 is added every month. I am active user or the barclaycard avios plus card and have two companion vouchers stacked up which I have not used. Not sure if I close the account is there anything else which will offer similar value atm

    zio 331 posts

    You can keep the card even if you don’t have the premier account.
    If you are an avios collector the only comparable card is the BAPP. The voucher with the AMEX card is more flexible and if you are eligible for the SUB it’s probably worth switching (or even adding the AMEX).

    Froggee 1,210 posts

    I don’t see the value in moving investments from someone like vanguard to Barclays, Natwest etc with their inevitably higher fees. In the case of Barclays Premier the useful benefits really only apply if you have their Avios card. HSBC is a bit more marginal, last time I checked the fees for investing in HSBC funds was similar to Vanguard.

    Barclays are happy to let you buy Ishares ETFs where fees are typically about 0.05% which is about as low as you will get. On a general investment account (I haven’t looked for pensions/ISAs) the platform fee on funds is 0.2%. So you would be paying 0.25% annually to buy an ETF.

    On the £100k required for premier this would be £250 per annum fees of which £50 goes to Ishares and £200 Barclays. There would obviously be the other transaction fees etc in the underlying ETF but this will be similar for all.

    So depending on how much you pay at Vanguard your calculation is [£250 – vanguard-fee-on-£100k].

    If this is worth more than you would value an upgrade voucher at then it might be worth signing up.

    I have investment trusts with Barclays which I would own anyway elsewhere but with zero platform fee. Investment trusts are charged a platform fee of 0.1% at Barclays (although the underlying funds are typically at 0.5%-1% fees) so I’ve taken the view that an upgrade voucher is worth £100 to me.

    Without wishing to besmirch either bank, I would not buy a fund with Barclays or HSBC branding on it!

    memesweeper 1,542 posts

    Without wishing to besmirch either bank…

    … proceeds to besmirch both banks. 🤣

    ekposh 381 posts

    also received the same that my premier account would be closed in February unless a minimum of 3300 is added every month. I am active user or the barclaycard avios plus card and have two companion vouchers stacked up which I have not used. Not sure if I close the account is there anything else which will offer similar value atm

    I have the same but it says the Premier account will change to a standard. This loses all benefits Inc the Avios Rewards. Though it does say “if you previously had Avios Rewards at £12/month, this will continue for 12 months from Feb 2024” (when my account closes).

    If I’m not miskaten paying £12 for 1500 Avios is worthwhile for another year?

    QFFlyer 193 posts

    also received the same that my premier account would be closed in February unless a minimum of 3300 is added every month. I am active user or the barclaycard avios plus card and have two companion vouchers stacked up which I have not used. Not sure if I close the account is there anything else which will offer similar value atm

    I have the same but it says the Premier account will change to a standard. This loses all benefits Inc the Avios Rewards. Though it does say “if you previously had Avios Rewards at £12/month, this will continue for 12 months from Feb 2024” (when my account closes).

    If I’m not miskaten paying £12 for 1500 Avios is worthwhile for another year?

    Yes, 0.8p per Avios, worth it in my opinion.

    Guernsey Globetrotter 719 posts

    also received the same that my premier account would be closed in February unless a minimum of 3300 is added every month. I am active user or the barclaycard avios plus card and have two companion vouchers stacked up which I have not used. Not sure if I close the account is there anything else which will offer similar value atm

    I have the same but it says the Premier account will change to a standard. This loses all benefits Inc the Avios Rewards. Though it does say “if you previously had Avios Rewards at £12/month, this will continue for 12 months from Feb 2024” (when my account closes).

    If I’m not miskaten paying £12 for 1500 Avios is worthwhile for another year?

    Yes, 0.8p per Avios, worth it in my opinion.

    Agreed, plus you are also getting your upgrade voucher annually as part of that cost too, making it even better value.

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