No More ATM Cards From Barclays Offshore!

Now THAT'S friggin' charming!

Been a customer at Barclay's (Offshore) for donkey's years and always received a new ATM (Debit) card when the old one expired.

Now they've let me know that they no longer send ATM cards to Thailand - it's apparently too dodgy a thing for them to do.

BE AWARE if you also have such a card - you may just need to think about making alternative arrangements!

It would have been nice if they'd taken the effort to inform me of their change of practice before my current card expired and not just ignore their customers.

Seems "customer service" at many banks is a thing of the past........ rant over

Well - good on Merv! That was very good to read - and I hope he doesn't let it rest there!

It's my impression (which obviously could be quite wrong), that nowadays UK banks have the rather unpleasant attitude that they have the upper hand and that you are there for THEM - and not that they are there for YOU. I'm always slightly peeved that I put my money in their establishment at a very low interest rate, which they then loan out to others at a very high rate of interest - and then I have to pay them every month for the so-called privilege of having my money with them.
On top of that it's almost impossible to get to talk to anyone at the bank without spending ages beforehand going through their security barrier - even when I just try enquire about some general information, not related to any specific account.

Perhaps the appearance of Metrobank (or maybe it's Metro Bank) in London will help to change the way the more well-known banks treat their customers. I was pleased to read quite recently that this (very) new bank is attracting many people that are otherwise fed up with their own bank (which ought to be rather a large part of the population!) - especially as they are building their business on real "customer service" and offering very good prospects for potential account openers. One "downside" is the lower rates of interest they offer, compared to other institutions, but I'm sure that their service niveau more than makes up for that. It'll be interesting to see if their new (or perhaps "old-fashioned") approach to banking will affect the well-known banks - one can only hope so.

Hi,
Not just Barclays, Lloyds offshore is the same. My debit card expired last year. They would not send the new card to LOS. They said, when I asked, they could only send it to my British address. e-mailed a couple of other banks and they stated the same, so not worth changing. So it seems a policy with all the major banks. Also do not use your debit card in Thai atms, in LOS. You only get the exchange rate in Britain which can be 2B in the pound less than in LOS. I get my money transferred to LOS every month, in sterling and get it changed to Bhat out here. Cuts out the 150B per transaction, now, and the low British rate of exchange.The SCB suggest this to me five years ago.

I am awaiting delivery of a new debit card linked with my UK MAINLAND account, ordered on line via internet banking. Will Alliance and Leicester (now Santander) oblige? On one occasion, I was told it had to go to a UK address - and my son brought it out to me whilst holidaying. Another occasion, no problem, sent direct with the explanation 'renewal card no problem, because does not need a new pin number - use the same number.' I'm anticipating having to make one of those awful automated phone calls.