Important Things To Know About Barclaycard Credit Cards

Barclaycard is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. It is best known in the U.S. for its co-branded rewards credit cards. With over 300 years of experience, Barclaycard combines innovative technology and superb customer service to provide consumers with quality rewards cards in travel, entertainment and retail categories.

So, we thought you should know about some of what we consider the important things that you should know about Barclaycard credit cards.

Things to Know

• Barclaycard almost exclusively pulls the TransUnion credit bureau. Depending on where you live, this can be a big plus since they are frequently not used and it’s good to be able to spread your hard pulls across the three credit bureaus.
• Unsure if they’ll pull another bureau if you have TransUnion frozen and still approve you. That’s because most people freeze their reports with Equifax/Experian to try and get more inquiries on TransUnion.
• They send out a lot of targeted spending offers, so keep an eye on your e-mail and mail.
• They will usually not match a higher sign up bonus. It’s always worth a call though and it looks like supervisors have this power and front line representatives don’t. So if you’re unsuccessful try to escalate the issue to somebody in charge.
• You can view your pre-approved offers online. Barclaycard removed this functionality for awhile, but it’s back now. They don’t offer increased bonuses through this checker though.
• You can check your credit card’s application status online.
• The time frame for your minimum spend begins as soon as your card is approved.
• They won’t issue you an instant credit card number to use for instant purchases on the account like some other credit card issuers.
• You can change the statement closing date by calling the number on the back of your credit card.
• It’s mixed results with retention offers. Sometimes you can get the annual fee waived, sometimes you can’t. They seem to prefer to offer the targeted spending offers mentioned above instead. You can read more about tactics for retention here.
• Most of the Barclaycard credit cards come with no annual fee versions, and it’s possible to downgrade to them. This might be useful if you want to increase your average age of accounts.
• Reallocating credit is a bit tricky. If they do allow you to do it though, then it’ll be a soft pull every time. They are more likely to offer this when you open a new card or close an old card.
• On Barclaycard branded cards (e.g Arrival) the sign up bonus will post with the transaction that met the minimum spend requirement. On co-branded cards (e.g Wyndham) it’ll post after the statement closes in which you meet the minimum spend requirement. Don’t think there is anyway to get these expedited.
• You can ask for your credit card to be expedited, but they will charge a $15 fee (this might now be lower according to certain consumer comments). Unlike most other credit card issuers, Barclaycard does not offer free expedition. Customer service representatives can and will waive this fee sometimes though, so just make sure to ask and/or  have a valid reason for wanting it expedited.
• If you apply for a credit card and you are denied, you can still be re-considered. If you are denied when applying for a Barclaycard credit card, call their re-consideration line. To call, try the following number, 866-408-4064.
• You can ask for your credit card to be expedited, but they will charge a $15 fee (this might now be lower according to certain consumer comments). Unlike most other credit card issuers, Barclaycard does not offer free expedition. Customer service representatives can and will waive this fee sometimes though, so just make sure to ask and/or  have a valid reason for wanting it expedited.
• Barclaycard woffer credit limit increases, but if you initiate one yourself it’ll result in a hard pull. Some phone representatives will be able to process this as a soft inquiry though, just ask in advance.
• You can churn Barclaycard cards. Being able to get the bonus more than once can work in your favor. The difficult thing is getting the card approved, you’ll need to have cancelled the previous card and usually have to wait for at least six months.
• You can have as many credit cards as you want and/or approved for. There is no limit to the amount of Chase credit cards you can have.
• If you apply for multiple Barclaycard cards, the hard inquiries will be combined. If you apply for more than one card and your applications are approved on the same day, all of the hard inquiries will be combined. This will then be considered as a single inquiry. The catch though is that you can only apply for maximum of three and only one will usually be auto-approved.
• They do not offer a public referral program, so no getting points/miles cash back for referring your friends. But they do sometimes offer targeted promotions.
• If you’re denied for a credit card and you already have at least one credit card with Barclaycard, they usually won’t do a hard pull on your credit report. This isn’t always the case though.
• They report your statement balance to credit bureaus for credit utilization purposes. If you want to lower your credit utilization then simply pay your credit card before your statement closes.
• If you make a partial or full payment and have auto pay set up they will pull the full amount.
• You can get a refund if you cancel a Barclaycard card. If you cancel your credit card within 60 days from account opening, they will refund the annual fee.
• Barclay’s will reinstate a closed credit card account soon after it was closed if you change your mind and decide you want the card again.
• They’ll usually waive balances of under $1, but you should not abusing this.
• It is not clear if they report business credit cards to the credit bureaus or not. This matters for purposes of keeping your credit report cleaner.
• Their cards support chip + PIN functionality. Most other credit cards have EMV chips, but they are chip + Signature. Barclaycard allows you to set a PIN. This is extremely useful when traveling internationally where chip + PIN is the standard and it also means that unmanned kiosks will work.

Author’s Verdict

If you didn’t know, Barclaycard has been issuing credit cards in the U.S. for only a little over 10 years. But in such a relatively short amount of time, they’ve already become favorites for many consumers.

Most if not all Barclaycard credit cards offer a 0% or very low introductory APR on balance transfers and many of them also offer intro APR on purchases or low on-going interest rates. It offers its customers both Mastercard and Visa cards, and also partners with several airlines such as US Airways, Lufthansa and Frontier Airlines, all of which offer rewards and additional points or miles when you make airline purchases with your credit cards.

Also, another thing to know and consider if you’re thinking of applying for a Barclaycard is that you may only get 1 or 2 Barclaycard a year. So, keep mind to make your applications count!

We hope you found this post to be beneficial in helping you better understand certain credit card issuers, such as Barclaycard.

Provide feedback in the comment section below by telling us your thoughts and experience with this card. Make sure to visit BankDealGuy for more credit card bonuses.