Written by Jessica Merritt | Edited by Ali Cybulski | Published on 12/3/2024
Barclays Bank is an online-only bank offering competitive interest rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs), but it has limited products and services compared with competitors.
London-based Barclays, which has its U.S. headquarters in Delaware, provides American customers a choice of several federally insured deposit accounts, including high-yield savings accounts and CDs. With a straightforward product lineup, Barclays Bank targets those who want to maximize savings without branch-based banking.
Barclays Bank does not offer a checking account but has two savings account options. Choose from Barclays Tiered Savings, which bases rates on your account balance, or Barclays Online Savings.
Neither savings account requires a minimum opening deposit nor charges a monthly maintenance fee. Barclays Online Savings account earns an APY of 4.10%.
Barclays Tiered Savings bases rates on your account balance, and you can earn an annual percentage yield (APY) of 4.50% even if you keep less than $10,000 in your account. Larger balances of $250,000 or more can get an APY of 4.80%.
You can qualify for a $200 bonus on Barclays Tiered Savings if you’re new to the bank and open an account by Jan. 6, 2025. To get the bonus, you have to deposit at least $25,000 within the first 30 days and maintain the balance for 120 consecutive days.
APYs for Barclays Online CDs range from 0.10% for a 3-month term to 4.25% for a 12-month term. Terms start at 3 months and go up to 60 months. No minimum opening deposit is required to open a CD.
A fully online bank, Barclays Bank doesn’t have physical branches. But you can manage your account online or via the Barclays mobile app. Customer service is available by phone at 888-710-8756 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time, seven days a week.
Barclays Bank pros and cons
Pros:
• Online savings accounts and CDs earn high interest rates with no monthly maintenance fees.
• No minimum opening deposit is required for savings accounts or CDs.
• Customers pay no monthly maintenance fees on savings accounts.
Cons:
• There are no physical branch locations.
• Barclays Bank does not offer checking accounts.
• Account offerings are limited compared with some competitors.
Reliable Account
I've had a Barclays savings account for like 10 years and split my liquid assets between this and a Vanguard money market. It was "online savings" and now I recently switched to their "tiered savings" because the rate was higher. They don't have the highest rates, but transfers are never a problem and go through within a day or two. Whenever I try and chase the highest rates with random banks there always seems to be delays, limits, or other catches that make it complicated. I'm happy to give up a few fractions of a point on earnings to have a 100% reliable place for my savings. Happy with this option.
Rates Too Low
Fed fund rate goes up .5 percent Barclay rate increased .05 there is an extra zero in this. Banks too spoiled for loose Fed Fund supply. Match the rates
Worst Customer Service
Absolutely the worst customer service agents. rude. combative. Tries to avoid providing the rep name. Denies request for a supervisor. Refused to take down my credentials such as name and account number. Awful. In addition the website sucks. Merged their Credit Card and Savings website into a mess. Now I have no access to my funds. Will be transferring them out of this bank as soon as possible. Only redeeming quality was the high interest rate yield on the savings account.
Won't Transfer Money Back Or Close Account Sta Away!
Since Barclays is offering a $200 bonus and one of the highest yields on a savings account, I opened an account and linked an external account. After they got my $250K, I tried to link my two checking accounts. After they made the small deposits and withdrawals, I went back to do the verification, but when I tried to log on a message showed the access was now restricted and to call the 888 number. I called and was told to send in the bank statements from these two accounts and my driver's license, which I promptly did. Two days later I was still locked out of the account, so I called again. I was initially told the same thing to send the documents. I told them I had sent them 2 days ago. She looked again and said yes, but it would take 10-15 days to review the documents. I told her tat was unacceptable and to transfer me to a supervisor. She put me on hold came back and said no supervisor was available but one could call me in 24 to 48 hours. I said that was unacceptable and to transfer the money back to the linked account and close this account. She set up a ticket to do so and said it would take 2-4 days to complete. I then filed a complaint with the CFPB, from which I got the were working on responses from Barclays. Four banking days after the transfer request, I got and email that said the transfer was rejected for suspected fraud, even though the customer rep had verified my info and prepared the ticket. I called back again. This time I was told the transfer was still in process and it should clear today, but she could not explain why I got the suspected fraud email. I asked for a supervisor and was told I didn't have that option. At least they are paying interest on the money so it would seem since the rejection showed that. We will see. Well their communicate is still bad. They unlocked my access and even cleared the two linked accounts, so I thought, maybe I'd leave the money in the account for the bonus. I also transferred in another 57K. Then out of the blue I get an email saying the account was closed at my request. It took them 25 days to actually close the account. If they had contacted me and asked, I would have left the money there for a while, but no contact, just automatic emails. I'll leave the money with Forbright, they actually care about customers.
Data as of Q4 2024
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 57203 |
| Year Established | 2001 |
| Employees | 4330 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 1.08% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 8.21% |
| Annual Interest Income | $5.91B |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $44.67B$41.58B |
| Loans | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $30.66B$29.52B |
| Deposits | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $35.42B$31.72B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $5.9B$5.17B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $2.39B$2.64B |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $560MM$505MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $0$0 |