Barclays Bank

Barclays Bank

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I have just been comparing notes with a client on how difficult it was to hack into the Barclays new and "exciting" website. I personally nearly burst a blood vessel trying to work out what combination of items would allow me to get login. So did my client, who had to get the payroll entered asap to meet month end deadlines.

Launching such changes at the end of the month without adequate explanation is the way to send all customers off to the competition - except of course there isn't any competition that is any better.

Replies (33)

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By BigBadWolf
30th Mar 2012 12:25

i can't even log in

I am bnot even able to log in - the service is either down or very very very slow!!!

Arrrgh Wages to pay - Suppliers to pay!

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By two sheds
30th Mar 2012 12:32

The thing that really wound me up is that is says that it is faster  I have been trying to log in for two days............and surprise surprise the sodding phone lines are jammed....

really poorly thought out...looks like no testing done at all..

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By PAULGACC
30th Mar 2012 12:34

I agree

Very bad idea of Barclays to launch a new online banking system that clearly doesn't work properly right on a month end. I suspect its a case of the IT department having no thought for what goes on in the real commercial world!

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By Hansa
30th Mar 2012 12:37

Cheque Book?

If problems are arising, why not get the cheque book out and sort the online banking out next week when the pressure's off?

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By bunniboiler
30th Mar 2012 13:10

What, not cleared funds.

Sure employees who are usually paid by bacs would love this!

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By BigBadWolf
30th Mar 2012 13:30

really?

Hansa wrote:

If problems are arising, why not get the cheque book out and sort the online banking out next week when the pressure's off?

do you live in the real world?

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Replying to johnjenkins:
By Hansa
30th Mar 2012 13:49

Real World - indeed yes

BigBadWolf wrote:

"do you live in the real world?"

 

It's Friday, it's lunchtime, there are problems in using a new (and from what I hear, crappy) system.  People are expecting their payments/salaries etc.  It would take (say) 2 minutes per cheque so in an hour you will have at least 30 ready.  Staff can be told, "sorry, problem with online banking here's your cheque." suppliers can be just sent a cheque which they receive on Monday (if posted first class) ... problem solved. 

This IS the real world ... find a quick belt and braces solution to a problem and get on with other things!

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By 3569787
03rd May 2016 17:35

Horrendous site

;

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By Steve Holloway
30th Mar 2012 13:53

Er ....

Cheques still take time to clear and its a Friday! You would be one popular boss.

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By bunniboiler
30th Mar 2012 13:58

Salaires by cheque

I'll take my chances that the system is up & running ASAP, even if I have to logon tomorrow or Monday, my employees would still have the cash in their bank quicker than making a trip to the bank to pay in a cheque that could then take up-to ten days to clear depending on who they bank with. (And longer with two bank holidays imminent).

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By louisVW4
30th Mar 2012 14:16

Barclays' new system isn't that new...

Like everyone, I am suffering with this. My Corporation Tax needs to be paid by the 1st April and I've just got the calculation! Lesson for the future... do it earlier.

The new online banking system is actually an improvement on what was there before. I started using it several months ago, and it looks and feels better. The login avoids the use of that awful PINsentry device, which I don't carry about with me. However, there remain glitches which should have been ironed out before launch.

I recently had cause to complain, and could not find a secure email 'contact us' within my account, as I have from many of my other financial services providers. As has been said above, you are thrown out of your secure site and consequently emails are not secure, and then you need to login again. It's not a difficult requirement for Barclays' IT team, especially given their budget!; . I asked the question and did not receive an acceptable response.

I just hope it's up before Monday.

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By kenny achampong
30th Mar 2012 14:10

It's broken

I finally got through on the phone, and the site is down because it's broken, it's not designed that way. I asked when will it be mended and she had no idea.

When it last worked a few days ago, I did notice two payments from clients had come in twice and both of them say they didnt do anything differently and are hassling thir own banks (both Santander) to get the money back. Seems a bit of a coincidence it happened to two people and then the website's been broken for two days, so maybe it could be an issue at Barclays rather than Santander. 

 

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Replying to Marion Hayes:
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By 3569787
03rd May 2016 17:35

Back end or front end

.

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By Hansa
30th Mar 2012 14:12

cheque or promise?

Given the choice (albeit Hobson's) I would take the cheque rather than a promise!  (Bird in the hand worth two in the bush etc).

The problem isn't yours, it's the banks. This is a quick solution to an immediate problem not a change of normal payment method - most normal employees would understand that.

With regard to clearance times - lunch-time on the 3rd working day is what BACS specifies, with a further day for return = Thursday.  10 days is only non-clearing building societies.

What on earth did people do before online banking?

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By petersaxton
31st Mar 2012 01:48

Faxes

"What on earth did people do before online banking?"

A lot of banks used to accept faxes.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By andrew.hyde
04th Apr 2012 11:19

What on earth did people do before online banking?

Years ago I worked for a while in the Funds Transfer Unit of Grindlays Bank, in Fenchurch St London.  Every day we received a pile of instructions - by letter, telegram, courier etc and set about transferring the funds all over the world, as instructed, on the same working day.  'Leave it until tomorrow' wasn't an option.  Then at the end of the day we had to balance all the debits and credits. To the penny, and before anyone went home, using adding machines. With handles on the side. If I close my eyes I can remember the sound they made.

I also worked in a bank in a village in very rural France.  There were three banks in the village, being branches of the three largest French banks at the time.  Each bank branch had a current account for each of the other two bank branches in the village.  At 1030 each working day the three managers (or their deputies) walked to a cafe and sat down for cup of coffee together, when they presented to each other all the local cheques.  Since the vast majority of business transactions were local, this practice accounted for most of their cheque clearing work.  No cash ever changed hands, apart from the fact that they took it in turns to pay for coffee.  What they were doing was of course was reinventing the 'clearing house'.

I can't pretend any of this was particularly efficient.  The building where I worked in Fenchurch St has been demolished, and I doubt whether the village in France has any banks now.

 

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By AdShawBPR
04th Apr 2012 11:08

Move to HSBC

I use HSBC (my own business) as well as Barclays (for client).  I can't stand the Barclays offering.  HSBC wins hands down and has done for ages.  They seem to be streets ahead of the other UK banks, not just in relation to what you can do online and how you do it, but also in linking their data to other software systems like Xero and Banklink.  The other thing that bugs me is that you can only download historic transactions for the previous few months, after which it's not available.  I can go back years with HSBC.

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Replying to johnjenkins:
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By ryedaleman
04th Apr 2012 11:51

Move to HSBC

AdShawBPR wrote:

I use HSBC (my own business) as well as Barclays (for client).  I can't stand the Barclays offering.  HSBC wins hands down and has done for ages.  They seem to be streets ahead of the other UK banks, not just in relation to what you can do online and how you do it, but also in linking their data to other software systems like Xero and Banklink.  The other thing that bugs me is that you can only download historic transactions for the previous few months, after which it's not available.  I can go back years with HSBC.

 

I also swopped from Barclays via NatWest to HSBC very pleased so far and online banking no problem

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By sue.hill
04th Apr 2012 11:37

My solution.....

I took the list of payments I needed to make on Friday down to the local branch and made them do it!  (Luckily it's only a short walk from the office).  Like other posters, my client's staff would not have been amused to have been handed a cheque (and there are 4 who work remotely, so I'd have had to post the cheques).  It is outrageous that a modern bank can have such a catastrophic failure and not even give its customers the courtesy of an apology.  (The staff at the branch seem totally unaware and unconcerned about the problems that we in the "real world" were experiencing).  

Ditto to the post about HSBC.  Have banked with them for my own business for over 10 years now, and they are streets ahead of Barclays in practically every respect.  I'm nagging my client to move away from Barclays!!!!

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By watercleaves
04th Apr 2012 11:43

Plagiarism

Sounds like Barclays have tried to copy what Lloyds did to Halifax and Bank of Scotland systems last year. Total disaster. But banks normally do things to us to make money out of us and I can't see how they're [***] us for money with these antics, unless they're hoping we will be so busy trying to make things work that we don't check for where they've ripped us off.

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By Colin Parker
04th Apr 2012 11:47

Barclays and Chrome

Just in case it is of any help to anyone, the new Barclays site DOES NOT WORK with the Google Chrome browser.  What happens is that all the windows freeze up rather than just the parent window.  Switching to IE fixes the problem, but make sure your version is up to date.  Barclays so called 'help desk' gave me the explanation (after 20 minutes on the phone) that Chrome is out of date and needs to be upgraded to work with Barclays.  Oh well - it's my fault then - I must be punished!

I guess when and if Chrome release a new version we can try again.

Incidentally I wonder why anybody uses IE rather than Chrome - Chrome is so much quicker and slicker.

Why don't they beta test this stuff before general release?  the help desk didn't know what a beta test was and, further, didn't care.

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Replying to Kernowlive:
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By BigBadWolf
04th Apr 2012 12:29

Barclays and Chrome

Colin Parker wrote:

Just in case it is of any help to anyone, the new Barclays site DOES NOT WORK with the Google Chrome browser.  What happens is that all the windows freeze up rather than just the parent window.  Switching to IE fixes the problem, but make sure your version is up to date.  Barclays so called 'help desk' gave me the explanation (after 20 minutes on the phone) that Chrome is out of date and needs to be upgraded to work with Barclays.  Oh well - it's my fault then - I must be punished!

I guess when and if Chrome release a new version we can try again.

Incidentally I wonder why anybody uses IE rather than Chrome - Chrome is so much quicker and slicker.

Why don't they beta test this stuff before general release?  the help desk didn't know what a beta test was and, further, didn't care.

 

I have used it with chrome this week without any problems.

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By Arm266
04th Apr 2012 12:12

Barclays Bank

A previous comment complained of the short time statements are held on the Barclays system.

This seems to be a problem with all online statement systems, be it banks, telephone companies, electricity companies etc.  If they are wanting people to go paperless, then haven't they heard of the Statute of Limitations, which requires all financial data to be held for a full six years!  I know they will reply that you should print out the statements while they are available, but that defeats the object of going paperless.

I get quite annoyed when a flag comes up on Barclays accounts inviting you to go paperless but only giving you the choice of doing so, or them asking again later.  We need the option to say 'No I have no intention of going paperless'.

I am sure they have the records to comply but just don't have the storage capacity to hold them all online.

Personally, I have stayed away from paperless accounts for this very reason, and have recommended my clients to do so, since I cannot claim any costs without having evidence to support them.  Many of my clients have lost considerable sums because they have no evidence of expenditure, due to it no longer being online.

Come on Barclays [and all paperless billing providers], get your systems in order, with the legally required 6 full years history, and I will be happy to go paperless.

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By StephenElms
04th Apr 2012 12:24

On-line statements

My business has been banking with Barclays for 8 years.  The re-designed site is OK - but only Ok.

In one, major way it is MUCH worse that the previous incarnation:statements! Now you do not get the detail we used to - there are no cheque or paying-in slip numbers shown.  They wont show if you want to print either.  So I consider this to be in breach of "adequate record keeping" in as much that if HMRC wanted to reconcile the statement items against my accounts detail then there is no connection shown on the statement apart from the amount!  Again paying in shows a total but not the serial number. Completely inadequate.

This is the 3rd recent bad experiance with Barclays

1 they turned down an account application - with saying that they had done so - never mind the reasons
2 My Pin sentry machine run out of power, as the site was down, telephone banking stated that I had to go to my branch to replace it. The branch had no replacements due in for at least "6 working" days! Eventually the branch gave me "a spare one" after I got agitated!3 This statement debacle...
 

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By petersaxton
04th Apr 2012 12:30

Lloyds TSB

"I know they will reply that you should print out the statements while they are available, but that defeats the object of going paperless."

You can print to PDF.can go back at least ten years.

I use Lloyds TSB and you can go back at least ten years.

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By nrslater
04th Apr 2012 12:34

What on earth did people do before online banking?

We used to have Local Clearings in Cambridge some 40 odd years ago. A person from each bank met,swapped all the local cheques and settled by means of Bankers Payment.  Most of the errors and complaints these days I suspect are caused because of the centralisation of proceses.  It was much easier to spot and correct an error when handling a few entries at a time.

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By jaybee661
04th Apr 2012 12:55

Xero feed

... seems like the Xero feed is down too - have been trying for ages!!!

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By AdShawBPR
04th Apr 2012 15:42

Xero feed

jaybee661, the Xero/Barclays link is not a 'feed' as such.  Barclays are not directly involved in this process and it's not done with their approval.  On the other hand, Xero does get a direct feed from HSBC - as do Banklink.  Apart from with HSBC, Xero has to use third party software provided by a company called Yodlee to 'scrape' (i.e. pull the data from the screen) without the banks' explicit approval.  As Barclays do not get involved with this process, if the scraping doesn't work there's not a lot you can do.  HSBC works with the software houses and provides them with the data feed so if there's a problem they can work together to fix it.  

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Replying to Tim Vane:
By cfield
05th Apr 2012 00:15

Don't get mad, get even!

Banks have to pay compensation for any errors they make. If they fail to do so or offer only a derisory amount, threaten to take them to the Ombudsman.

I always get my pound of flesh off the banks and have no shame whatsoever about it. After all, they screw us whenever they get the chance, plus they caused the financial crisis. In fact, I've had a few thousand quid off them over the last 20 years for various [***]-ups.

If it is necessary to write loads of cheques because their systems are down, charge them an admin fee for all the extra time involved. And if you have to compensate staff for bank charges on bounced cheques, unauthorised overdrafts or returned DDs due to the cheque not clearing in time, pass those on to the bank too!

If everyone did it they would soon change their ways. Either that or we'd end up having to bail them out again!

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By Nurturing Business Growth
05th Apr 2012 12:15

Seems I am not alone in questioning why I am with Barclays.  I can't believe in this day and age I cannot get access to a currency account through internet banking.  Whenever i need to do something with my Euro account it seems to involve 20 mins of being on the phone to an Indian call center on an 0845 number.

 

 I don't beleive the new site is an improvement.  It seems every single transaction windows requires some sort of scrolling.  Why can't they make things display in the same window?

 

Which leaves me with one question - I am ready to change but who should I change too?  My fear is they are all as bad as each other. Recommendations anyone?

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Replying to brycesanders:
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By sue.hill
05th Apr 2012 15:36

I recommend HSBC

Nurturing Business Growth wrote:

Seems I am not alone in questioning why I am with Barclays.  I can't believe in this day and age I cannot get access to a currency account through internet banking.  Whenever i need to do something with my Euro account it seems to involve 20 mins of being on the phone to an Indian call center on an 0845 number.

 

 I don't beleive the new site is an improvement.  It seems every single transaction windows requires some sort of scrolling.  Why can't they make things display in the same window?

 

Which leaves me with one question - I am ready to change but who should I change too?  My fear is they are all as bad as each other. Recommendations anyone?

HSBC.  Mind you, when I last had a foreign currency account with them, there was no online access... that was about 3 years ago.  Hopefully things have changed.  For "everyday" GBP accounts, they're pretty good compared to others.

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By cfield
05th Apr 2012 12:44

Try Cater Allen

Their customer service is pretty good (7 day helpline staffed by people in the UK) and internet access is very good. You have to quote 2 lots of bank details for overseas clients though as they have to use RBS for international remittances.

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By daveforbes
05th Apr 2012 16:07

seems to have recovered

For a few days it did not seem to work at all which was a nightmare. Now that it is working, I have to say I think I prefer it. Downloading transactions to excel for multiple accounts seems much easier and you can see more of the account name. On the old system it used to truncate after about 15 characters - and if you had several accounts that all started the same it was difficult to see where you were.

That said - I have nothing to compare it with as I have only ever been a Barclays customer !

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