Snowy560

Hi, do you think they took the Barclaycard away because you didn't use it much? I read some news from last year which said they would close accounts where people didn't use the card for 6 months +

S

CDNReturner

At first I thought that but then I realized I had been in the UK the previous year and had paid for hotel and rental car on the card. Prior to that it had been about 4 or 5 years since I'd last been back.

Hmmm, maybe it was the 6 months thing you said.

It's funny because I just received a new American Express card 2 weeks ago and it's so long since I last used my American Express card that I thought I had cancelled it. I guess I kept it as a backup.

Snowy560

It might be the six month thing that made them pull yours. I saw several news reports from last year which said that. I tend to use mine quite a lot, on a regular basis, even for little things like coffees at THs. I still have some money going into my UK bank account, so I pay off the card using that.

S

PS: here's one of those articles from last year:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/p...claycards.html

BristolUK

Interesting. So they say temporary only but a UK address seems to satisfy them. I use mine for zero % balance transfers occasionally. With the transfer and then the payment activity I guess that counts as 'use'

MarylandNed

The biggest mistake my wife and I made when moving to Canada many years ago was closing our UK bank accounts. We ended up moving back to the UK after 7 years in Canada and found it very difficult to open a UK bank account as we didn't have anything to prove our address (we were staying temporarily with relatives). We've been in the US for the past 17 years and kept our UK bank account open using our US address. We kept the UK credit cards for a while but got rid of them after we got US credit cards.

Snowy560

Hi thanks for that and I agree it would be a mistake. I am very clear that I have no intention of closing my UK bank account. What I'm more concerned about, is that they will close it for me if I don't list a UK address. They say they won't, but you never know what will happen in the future. I did have some money on deposit with ING in the UK a few years ago and they informed me I could no longer hold it with them as I was not resident.

I think the other thing is probably consistency, meaning that it's probably better not to do a UK address for one thing and then the Canadian for something else. I don't know why I say that, it's just my sense, but for credit/identity checks I imagine it might be problematic. No idea if I'm right though.

S

MarylandNed

I think you're creating a problem where there is none. UK banks are used to having customers who are resident overseas.

Snowy560

I think you're absolutely right. I'm known for over worrying!

What you can't do easily (or at all?) is open a new account once non resident.
And it might be rather harder to keep the credit card. We'll see.

S

Siouxie

My son has both a Barclays account and credit card, which he keeps so that he can place orders from UK websites if necessary, or for when he visits the UK. Barclays know that he is resident in Canada and forward his statements to our address here without any problem.

If you are concerned then give them a UK address or else place a redirect on your mail to your house in the UK to your house in Canada!


Can I have mail redirected to an address outside of the UK?

Yes, you can redirect mail from a UK address to your new address overseas. All mail will be forwarded via International Standard. Unfortunately, we cannot redirect mail from another country to a UK address. Please refer to the Postal Authority for that country if this is what you need. Please note different countries offer different mail redirecting services with different terms and conditions.

jimf

I still have a Nationwide BS current account and credit card as well as Halifax and Barclaycard credit cards. Nationwide and Halifax are ok with using a Canadian address. The Barclaycard was originally an Egg card (and before that Goldfish I think) and when I had to register the Barclaycard they wouldn't accept a Canadian address.

I have a house in the UK which is rented out so just used that address for the Barclaycard. It's quite handy having the card registered to that address as otherwise it would be difficult to set up a mail redirection from there. The mail redirection goes to my mother's address which is sent on to me in Canada now and again.

Nationwide said they were ok with changing to a Canadian address for an existing account but wouldn't open a new account with an overseas address.

The cards are useful when visiting the UK and for UK online purchases.