Credit Cards

[Andy77]

I would stronly suggest if you want a credit card, and this is your first credit card, do not choose Barclays.

I had my card with them and all was great until Sept 2012.  I sent them 900 bucks to pay on my account and they put a (5) business day hold on that payment.  I made another 900 payment and same thing.  I made another 900 payment and again a (5) business day hold.  At the time all this started, my account was and is in great standing and I never had a returned payment or anything like that.

They would probably be ok to have as a secondary card.  The reason why I say they are not good for someone to get as their primary card is because if you make a payment on your account, then the next day they place a hold on that payment, don't tell you, then you go to dinner that evening, as I did, and that is your only method of payment, they cannot release the hold...you are left washing the dishes.

[laboi_22]

I agree. After never really having them personally. I think they are much hyped. Discover, Chase, AMEX all beats them everytime!

[kwazziee]

I was going for them but after hearing this on pultiple post I will not now. Seems stupid to me. I have charge 1K plus and paid in full on all my other cards for years and had never ran into a situation like this before.

[navigatethis12]

I would not encourage anyone to just have one card. At the least everyone should have two. Any card can have a payment hold or any other problem that would cause you not to be able to use it. That is one of the reasons I carry around a small amount of cash.

[StartingOver10]

Wow...I have paid them $1400 plus in a single payment and never had them hold a payment. But then again, I've only had them eleven months so far. I've also made multiple payments in the month and no hold. I agree with your conclusion though, having only one card is risky if the card decides to do strange things (like hold payments).

[LS2982]

IMO, its really not a good idea to have only one credit card period, whether its barclays or anyone else. You always want backups, preferably 1 of each payment network.

[Epcot]

Sorry to hear, but it is a good example on the need to be diverse in the wallet.

[nbknxf2]

While I agree with you in principle of having more than one card in your wallet, I do not think Barclays is all that bad.

My experience has been quite different. I have multiple Barclays cards and I use one as my "everyday" card. I always send in multiple payments per billing cycle and have never had any payment placed on hold. Payments as large as $5k were immediately accepted and available on my CL. I have also received multiple CL increases in the first year.

I guess YMMV but they have been good to me.

[jasimae]

Although I agree with your sentiments about not having just one card, I think where you might have erred is paying through their website.  I think you made a similar post previously and someone mentioned pushing a payment through to them from your bank account instead of through their website.  I have made consecutive large payments from Barclays via my bank account and never a hold.  I wouldn't berate Barclays, per se, I just think you should explore all of your payment options to ensure you are making the right one to meet your needs.

[dimitrip]

I agree. So far every payment I have made on my cards have been from my bank account at cap1 and its smooth sailing. Don't think I will ever pay a bill through a creditors website.