Hey big spender! (barclaycard.com)

Member Name: MichaelR

Product:	barclaycard.com
Date:	30/03/01 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: On-line account management. Prestige. Only card approved by NUS. Anyone can get one.

Disadvantages: Low credit limit. High(ish) interest.

Hmmm, Student Barclaycard.

I have one, mainly because it was so easy to get hold of and Barclaycard still holds a certain amount of prestige (For proof of this, just look at some of the application forms for other cards... Tesco Personal Finance springs immediately to mind with the speed of a souped-up gazelle - it has separate boxes for "MasterCard", "Barclaycard", and "Other Visa") and some companies that you may wish to apply to in the future will rate you more highly if you can say you possess a Barclaycard.

Obviously establishing yourself with what is still the most popular credit card issuer in this country is the main reason to get this card. If you use it responsibly, then you're much more likely to be extended a decent amount of credit after you graduate and get your hands on the 'proper' Barclaycard too.

And that's the main problem with this student version of the card - the low credit limit. Barclays will only ever give you a £350 credit limit on the Student Barclaycard. This seems completely unaffected by how good your credit record is or what sort of income you have. To me, a good student credit card should attract a limit of at least £500 (as my NatWest Student MasterCard does). I suppose the plus point of this is that if it is going to be your first credit card, and you're perhaps not used to the wonders of consumer credit and are just going to go out and spend, spend, spend, then you won't get into serious debt with this card, because the limit is so low.

I understand that there is the possibility of increases to the limit if you pay well (which I do) but I've not really held this card for long enough to know yet, because as with most cards limits are usually only reconsidered after the 6th month.

As it is though, I just use this card mainly for emergency cash - which attracts the usual 1.5% handling fee, minimum £1.50, plus a higher rate of interes
t than purchases. You get a PIN as standard though (unlike with some student cards) so getting access to cash is easy.

The interest is reasonable. It's not great, but it's reasonable. It attracts 18.7% APR on purchases and 20.5% on cash. You can do better, but as a student you're unlikely to be accepted for any card with a lower rate unless you're pulling in quite a bit of cash from outside work. The only better rate on student cards is available from NatWest, and you can't get one of their cards unless you hold a current account with them.

I think the best thing about the card though is that it has a superb on-line account management service via www.barclaycard.co.uk

Using the website, you can view transactions that have occurred up to the last 24 hours, view your statements, make a payment on line etc... basically anything you could do over the counter at the bank and a lot more besides. This is extremely handy if your bank charges a fee to allow you to pay your Barclaycard bill over the counter.

You'll get a nice free gift if you're accepted for the card too (£20 of Waterstones vouchers or a camera) although such perks are not really a great reason to apply. I'd prefer a lower rate of interest over a free gift...

There is also the big plus point of no annual fee (there is on the 'proper' Barclaycard, but not on the student one) although this is fairly common on a lot of cards now.

If you want/need a credit card while you study - and they are a lifeline when you run out of money - then you'll probably want to look here.

See what your bank is willing to offer you first though - especially if you are a NatWest customer.

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