Barclays Bank UK PLC · DRN-6015275

The complaint Mr M complains about advice given to him by Barclays Bank UK PLC trading as Barclaycard in relation to opening a credit card account. What happened Mr M held a credit card account with Barclaycard. He wanted to take advantage of a 0% interest credit card offered by Barclaycard. He says he was told he needed to close his existing account and wait 6 months to apply for the account he wanted. He closed his Barclaycard account in September 2024. At the time, his account was in credit by £0.68. Barclaycard wrote to him to say that if his account was in credit, it could arrange a refund. Mr M says he no longer received offers for credit cards and loans on the Barclays app, and he’s since been unable to apply for a credit card or loan account. In July 2025, he complained. Barclaycard returned his £0.68 to him and reassured him this delay hadn’t affected his ability to apply for new products. It said Mr M was correctly told he needed to close his existing credit card in order to apply for a new one after six months. Barclaycard said the closure of Mr M’s credit card account hadn’t resulted in him being ‘blacklisted’ or negatively impacted his ability to access lending products. Barclaycard went on to say that if Mr M wanted to apply for lending, he needed to call them. It recognised the situation had caused him some inconvenience and offered him £50. Mr M then called Barclaycard and was told he needed to apply online. Barclaycard admitted it had told him, incorrectly, that he could apply for a credit card over the phone. Instead, he needed to apply through digital channels. It offered an additional £75 compensation, bringing the total payable to £125. Unhappy with this response, Mr M referred his complaint to our service. He was concerned closing his Barclaycard account resulted in him being blacklisted from making new applications. He said he visited his Barclays branch on two or three occasions for advice and was unable to apply for a new product in-branch. Mr M said he’d tried to apply for a credit card and loan on the app but was unable to do so. He wanted £7,000 compensation. Barclaycard told our service it hadn’t received a new application for a Barclaycard or Barclayloan since Mr M closed his Barclaycard account in September 2024. It said Mr M had attempted to complete a product-to-product transfer from his closed Barclaycard in July 2025, but this was automatically declined as his account was closed. Barclaycard added it wasn’t obliged to provide product offers on its app. One of our investigators reviewed Mr M’s complaint. They said it was for Barclaycard to decide if it needed a customer to close their account and wait six months to apply for a new one. The investigator said there was evidence to show the delay in providing a refund of £0.68 affected Mr M or that he’d been blacklisted. There was also no guarantee Mr M would have been accepted for a product even if it was advertised to him.

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In response, Mr M provided a screenshot of Barclays’ app saying it wouldn’t lend to him. As he didn’t accept our investigator’s opinion, his complaint was referred for an Ombudsman’s decision. What I’ve decided – and why I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint. In doing so, I’ve only considered Barclaycard’s actions until the date of its final response. So, I’ve not considered whether Barclaycard did anything wrong after 18 August 2025. I know Mr M has since applied for a Barclaycard and was concerned about his application, so he raised a new complaint – these concerns have not formed part of this complaint. I also haven’t considered Mr M’s comments about his visit to a branch in December 2025. Should he wish to do so, he can complain to Barclays directly. Mr M says he was told to close his Barclaycard account if he wanted to apply for a new product, and Barclaycard has confirmed this advice was correct. Whilst Mr M feels his closed account blacklisted him from being able to apply for new products, Barclaycard has confirmed this isn’t the case and there’s no evidence from the time of its final response to show he is ineligible for new products because of an error on Barclaycard’s part. I know Mr M is concerned the delay in returning his £0.68 to him impacted things. However, I’ve reviewed Barclaycard’s internal notes which confirm his account was recorded as closed in September 2024. The letter Mr M was sent in September 2024 confirmed it was possible for the account to be closed with a credit balance, which would be refunded separately. I’ve seen no evidence to suggest this issue prevented Mr A from being able to apply for new products. Barclaycard said that, at the time of its July final response, it hadn’t received any applications for new products from Mr M. Barclaycard has said it didn’t allow Mr M’s application for a product-to-product transfer as his credit card account was closed, and there’s no evidence to show it made an error here. There is also no documentary evidence to support Mr M’s testimony that he tried to apply for a new credit card or loan before July 2025. I’ve seen no evidence to show he contacted Barclaycard about this before July 2025. It isn’t clear that offers weren’t visible to Mr M on the app but Barclaycard has said that even if offers aren’t advertised, this doesn’t mean he is ineligible for them. An offer doesn’t guarantee that Mr M will be accepted for the product on the terms advertised. Mr M has provided screenshots saying he’s unable to apply for a personal loan. It’s unclear whether the screenshots Mr M provided were taken before August 2025. Overall, I think there is insufficient evidence to show Barclaycard made an error in handling any such applications at the time of its August 2025 final response. Mr M has complained about what happened when he went into Barclays’ branches. However, without persuasive evidence of what was said, I’ve not seen enough evidence to persuade me that Barclaycard made an error. Barclaycard accepted there was a delay in returning £0.68 to Mr M. It also told him, incorrectly, that he could apply for a product over the phone. To recognise the inconvenience caused by its actions, Barclaycard offered him a total of £125 compensation. I realise Mr M is unhappy with this compensation, but I’ve not seen sufficient evidence to show Barclaycard’s actions caused him a financial loss. In all the circumstances of this complaint, I

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think Barclaycard’s offer of £125 compensation fairly recognises the inconvenience caused by the errors its admitted. My final decision Barclays Bank UK PLC trading as Barclaycard has already made an offer to pay Mr M £125 to settle the complaint and I think this offer is fair in all the circumstances. So, if it has not already done so, my decision is that Barclays Bank UK PLC trading as should pay £125. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr M to accept or reject my decision before 28 April 2026. Victoria Blackwood Ombudsman

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