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Since hearing that Barclays arepulling out of Spain, and the credit cards of those with bank accounts in the UK being withdrawn, I am left wondering if these UK accounts will be affected in other ways? Is it the thin edge of the wedge?
Could Barclays cancel ex pats UK accounts? If so, thousands of ex pats will be in a predicament, unable to open a new account in UK, and may not have another account to transfer the money from Barclays to.
Most will not be willing to transfer their life savings to Spain!
Many ex pats have pensions paid into these accounts, and also have direct debits paying insurances etc.
Barclays have thousands of ex pat customers who have been loyal to them for many years. They shouldn't be throwing them into a financial turmoil now.
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Although I personally do not have a bank account with Barclays, I have received a letter telling me that my two credit cards with Barclaycard will be cancelled in June. Fortunately I have not used them for some long time but I have complained bitterly to the company that after so many years (since inception almost) and as a shareholder too, their decision is deplorable. That said, however, I would not think that working accounts in UK would be closed, since as you say, considerable damage would be done if no other current banking is held in UK to receive, for example, pension payments. Even if the UK is stupid enough to depart from the EU, I would expect things to remain in this respect.
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From thier group strategy statement.
We will group together in Barclays Non-Core those assets that are not strategically attractive to us in the new operating environment, because we do not think they can deliver appropriate returns or reach an effective scale within Barclays in the medium term.
Barclays Non-Core will include:
• Parts of the Investment Bank which we are exiting, such as physical commodities (excluding precious metals) and elements of other trading businesses including emerging markets and non-standard derivatives
• European retail banking operations
• Non-core corporate banking in Europe and the Middle East.
It also includes certain fair-value, long-dated loans in the UK and a small number of Barclaycard and Wealth portfolios.
Many of the businesses in Barclays Non-Core are profitable and some will be attractive to other owners. We will continue to manage them actively, protecting the franchise, as we explore options for sale or exit over time.
We are targeting a reduction in Non-Core RWAs to approximately £50bn by the end of 2016 with the drag on Group return on equity down from c. 6% in 2013.
_______________________
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I too received a letter from Barclaycard informing me that my credit card account would be closed in June I spoke to Barclaycard and explained that I was a spanish resident now with no UK address The lady at Barclaycard was sympathetic and helpful and quite happy to except my daughters address in the UK and my spanish address as temporary I was not even asked my daughters name An electoral check would show her married name She explained that as I banked on line with paperless statements it was unlikely that any correspondence would be sent to the UK address It was almost seem I could have given any address as no mention was made of any checks being made I am not entirely confident that I will not hear from them again but at the moment everything seems ok I use my Barclaycard card as an emergency card and on my very infrequent visits to the UK I would be loathe to loose it as during my working life I acquired a high credit limit My bank in Spain want to charge me an extortionate fee for the privilege of having one of their cards and will only give me a decent credit limit if I open a separate account with an equivalent amount
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Scubamike
It is clear that there is more than one answer, depending on to whom you speak! I also have (had?) a substantial credit limit on both my cards, although as I said no use had been made for a while. I also have no need for postal items. I think I will contact them again and use your ruse! Wish me luck.
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Are debit cards affected.- no one seems to know. Will Barclays close UK accounts held by Expats I'm pleased you had a sympathetic response to using a UK address of a relative. Do you think that they would still send statements to my Spanish address, as I do not want to bank online.
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I also have a Barclays Bank a/c and debit card which I have had since I started work I have not heard from Barclays Bank but I would doubt they would withdraw facilities to ex pats after all a Spanish bank will allow you to have a non residents a/c I don't know the answer regarding postal statements
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HSBC refused to renew my credit card when I came to Spain. However happy enough to give and renew my debit card...which is actually posted to me here. Perhaps the same will be true for Barclays customers.
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Originally Barclays Bank issued their own credit card "Barclaycard" but now they are run as two totally separate companies
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I have not found a UK bank that will let one open an account if they are not resident in UK.
However, Nationwide, and I believe many (maybe all) will allow a customer to keep an existing account if they move abroad. I was with Nationwide when I came to Spain 25+ years ago. I still have the 4 accounts I had when I was in UK. Several years after moving I managed to get a Credit card, after firstly being refused but an email to the COE put that right. So now I have 3 Debit Cards and a Credit Card.
An off shore bank will allow a variety of people to open accounts and I believe they will issue credit / debit cards.
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I have been with Barclays since the eighties, so I want to know that my existing accounts will still be ok, along with the debit card.
Although you cannot open a new account with a different bank, it has been possible to open another account within the existing bank, though I bet theey don't alllow it now.
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Campo: I have been with Barclay's since the eighties, so I want to know that my existing accounts will still be ok, along with the debit card.
Is it too obvious a thing to say, but why don't you call your bank and ask them ? Then maybe you can help existing customers by telling them what you, as a customer, have learnt.
This message was last edited by johnzx on 18/05/2014.
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I have thought of that, but I'm worried about the answer-daft I know!
The thing is, when you phone them, you don't get to speak to anyone who knows the answer to questions like this. This message was last edited by camposol on 18/05/2014.
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