Firstly, this is good. No reason not to have all of the tech to produce replacement cards at some, or all, branches. Well done Barclays.
However, I am annoyed at the advert. It stresses the serious inconvenience of losing one's debit card. For a start, who has only one card, but lets assume you lose them all.
For the Barclays replacement card you will have to go to an open branch of your bank, and prove who you are.
If you can do that, whoever you bank with, you can extract some CASH from them. It is really useful stuff that works in every shop. If it happens to be the day you need to buy loads of stuff, then you can get the cash to do that.
It will almost certainly be quicker to get that cash than a replacement card from Barclays.
So, whilst their service is very good, it does not address the issue they highlight in the advert any better than any other bank.
And, ironically, my son lost his debit card recently. He left it in a Barclays branch! They called and he said he would come in, but when he did (next day) they had destroyed it, and ordered a new one by post. He did not have option of replacement same day and so was without a card for two days just when he needed one. He got out some cash, as it happens. So lose your card, but don't lose it actually in a Barclays branch or you are screwed!
I got a new card from Chase recently. They printed the card for me in the branch. It took less than 10 minutes. I was very impressed!
ReplyDeleteIronic, given their advertising - presumably not one of the branches where they offer the same-day service?
ReplyDeleteI do have multiple cards (debit, AmEx, Visa) - but only one of those works in cash machines without loan-shark-level fees; I'm only going to take cash out on a credit card in an actual emergency of some sort! Of course, for the situations in the Barclays advert, presumably the businesses which take debit cards will also accept credit cards anyway. As a practical measure, I prefer the Royal Bank of Scotland "emergency cash" feature, where you can withdraw some cash at any time from an ATM without the card - and something similar involving an iPhone app as an alternative to a card.
I recall one of my security lecturers telling us - around 2001 - of getting an in-branch replacement PIN for a card. Not *his* card, of course, that wouldn't have made for a good security anecdote... (His wife's, in fact.)
I do like the idea of instant card-issuing in theory, as long as it actually works properly; I recall a documentary recently on airport immigration control, with a traveller arriving from Nigeria with a British passport. The plastic sealing film over the photo wasn't properly aligned, the paper was slightly creased - "not a very good fake", said the immigration officer. Needless to say, it turned out to be a genuine one, issued by the British High Commission there!
Meanwhile, my own current bank can't figure out how to correct their own wrong direct debit: my mother had a loan from them, repaid in monthly instalments; the final instalment left the loan in credit; absurdly, this triggered "collections" involvement (they said their loan-management script can't distinguish between credit and debit balances!), and their only route to correct this was to refund the entire monthly instalment, then make a separate payment of the correct amount. Apparently "just refund the amount overpaid" is beyond their abilities! When they can't even get basic banking operations right, I suppose new features like quick card replacement, useful iPhone apps and cardless cash access will remain a pipe dream.
I was fortunate enough to benefit from the service when I managed to leave my debit card in a Chip and PIN card reader airside at London Gatwick airport before getting on a 7AM flight to Edinburgh on New Year's Eve last year. By the time I'd arrived back in the City Centre, I walked into a branch, waited about twenty minutes and then left with a new debit card. At the time I was exclusively with Barclays for my personal account, and given they didn't offer mobile app-based PinSentry, I'd have been scuppered for transferring to a friend and getting them to withdraw if I ran out of cash later on during festivities.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree that the service only suitable for a niche set of circumstances, namely those emerging during bank working hours. I also acknowledge that delivery from Barclays with lost cards is usually next working day - but it's at least a useful option for those amongst us that frequently test the patience of our banks by carelessly leaving behind our debit cards.