Barclays apologises after mistakenly telling customers their credit cards will be cancelled
Roisin Gauson reports...
Barclays has apologised after customers in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man were mistakenly warned their credit cards will stop working next month unless they have a home on the UK mainland.
Since new ring-fencing laws were introduced in 2019, hundreds of islanders have struggled to obtain a credit card as Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are different jurisdictions.
New applications to various lenders have been rejected on the grounds that the islands "are not part of the United Kingdom", but previous customers have mostly been able to continue to use their credit cards.
What is ring-fencing?
Financial institutions operating across multiple jurisdictions often choose to segregate parts of their business, keeping assets aside for a specific purpose.
For example, keeping UK and offshore banking operations within the same business separate.
This can be done to comply with various local tax regimes or to protect assets from losses incurred elsewhere in the business.
In January, a Barclays spokesperson told ITV News in January that it would "continue to support" existing customers:
"Anyone applying for a new Barclaycard must have a permanent UK address. There is no change to arrangements for existing cardholders in the Channel Islands, who we will continue to support."
But, in an email to customers sent on Wednesday 12 April, Barclays told customers their cards will stop working from the end of May and their accounts closed altogether the following month unless they provide an address in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
The company said: "We’re sorry to let you know that we’re closing Barclaycard accounts without a UK residential address. We’re making this change as we’re no longer offering accounts to customers living outside of the UK.
"If you have a UK residential address, please update your details in Online Servicing or our app by 21 June 2023.
"If you don’t have a UK residential address, then your card will unfortunately stop working on or after 30 May 2023 and we’ll close your account on or shortly after 21 June 2023."
A Barclays spokesperson later told ITV News the email was sent to customers in the Crown Dependencies in error:
“We offer our sincere apologies to any of our Barclaycard customers resident in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man that may have been incorrectly informed that their accounts would be closed.
“We can confirm all existing cardholders resident in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man will continue to be supported and there will be no change to the service they currently receive.”
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