Barclays Premier Account - experiences?

[g3org3y]

Hi all,

Colleague of mine has been offered an upgrade to 'Premier Banking' with Barclays. Anyone got any experiences of this?

Seems that there isn't a monthly or annual fee. Advantages include allowances to take out £1000 at ATMs and UK based 24/7 customer service.

Accounts stay the same and a new debit card is issued.

Are there any downsides/negatives to this Premier Banking (no such thing as a free lunch etc) or is this simply Barclays trying to maintain loyalty? It all sounds very positive but he's a cynical git so always looks at the downsides.

A worthwhile upgrade or should I suggest to him to steer clear?

[g3org3y]

Thanks for the replies. I'll pass on the info. Sounds like in the absence of an annual charge, it's something he should consider.

https://www.barclays.co.uk/premier-banking/rewards...

I can't imagine him being interested in visiting 'English Heritage Sites' though unless there's a Nandos nearby.

Perik Omo said:

I think there was a charge when I had mine but that was some time ago. They gracefully froze my account and cancelled by Premier Debit Card when they heard that I'd been made redundant, wasn't that good of them! Needless to say I closed the account completely soon after, they were all over me previously with quarterly meetings with my Premier Account Manager but that ended as soon as they found out that they couldn't "sell" me any more of their expensive services (that was before being made redundant).

Was that because you needed a certain salary to qualify? How did they find out about the redundancy? Why didn't they simply change it back to a 'normal' account?

richardracer said:

Barclays Premier credit card has a £100 per annum charge.

I think this is current account rather than a credit card.

Edited by g3org3y on Sunday 10th September 17:20

[g3org3y]

Thank you for the replies. All sounds quite positive. I'll pass on the info. Cheers.

[g3org3y]

mosp said:

I have one of these accounts, does not cost anything and I got a free ice cream from thorntons last time I went shopping. From that point on I base all decisions on financial products on how much ice cream they give me.

I'm going to have to work harder if these are the benefits 'the other half' enjoy.

craigjm said:

The premier accounts from Barclays and HSBC are ok and have no fee attached just strings that you have to earn a certain amount and / or have a decent investment ability. Banks only really start caring about you when you become eligible for private banking though.

Yes 75k+ salary or 100k+ in savings/investments from my google searching.

Wouldn't put it past my colleague to have mentioned the Premier Account with the ulterior motive of me finding this out.

kurt535 said:

barclays took a monthly fee from me which i questioned as i had a very decent sum sitting with them. never got a response. additionally,

I believe this is a free service.