How to Get your Annual Fees Waived on Barclaycard Cards
Although the credit card scene has for a long time been dominated by the giants like Amex, Chase, and Citi, over the past several years Barclaycard has really started to establish itself as a major player. My first Barclaycard was the US Airways World Mastercard (nonaffilitate link), which was 35k after first purchase (now 40k after first purchase), then another (yes, it’s possible to have two concurrently), and on my most recent app-o-rama I got the very well reviewed Barclaycard Arrival, which has a 40k signup bonus and in essence offers 2.2% back on all spend, and also the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard, which offers 40k miles after $500 in spend, which can equal two roundtrips domestically if you can find saver tickets. I have to say, I’m very pleased w/ this bank’s selection, even making the Arrival one of the 10 best cards for military members. And their website is very intuitive, equalling Amex’s and putting Citi’s and Chase’s to shame.
I have good news to report – I emailed Barclaycard earlier this month about any benefits that might be obtained by servicemembers under the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act (SCRA). As we’ve read before, American Express, Chase Bank, Capital One, and Citibank all waive annual fees, late fees, etc., and it looks as though Barclaycard follows along in the same vein. Here is a conversation that I recently had w/ Barclaycard:
So I went ahead and called 1-866-918-5212, and a gentleman named Dave immediately picked up the phone (no menu!), and instructed me to fax my orders in to Barclaycard; the number is 1-800-453-9719. After they received them, they would apply these benefits to both active cards and any old cards (which I didn’t have).
I never actually got around to faxing my orders in (who still has fax machines?? This isn’t the Cold War! You should be using Hellofax anyways), but a couple days later, I received several letters in the mail from Barclaycard. All of them said the same thing, and here is the one for my Arrival Card (sorry for the poor rez, my scanner is not exactly top-of-the-line).
This is great! I never even provided any documentation to them, and they still were proactive in sending me a letter granting me SCRA benefits! It doesn’t mention in any of the letters that the annual fee is waived, but Dave assured me that it is, for all cards, and that also applies retroactively. This will save me $89 x 2 (for both US airways cards), $89 for the Arrival card, and $69 for the Frontier card, for an annual savings of $336!
We’ve gone over Amex, Chase, Capital One, Citi, and now Barclaycard…I wonder what’s next??
I have tried to get Chase to waive the annual fee on my two Southwest card under SCRA but was told that they only did that if you opened them prior to joining the military. Have you had any luck with Chase? Or any advice on getting the fees waived?
@Mackin He has updated his Chase page to reflect that most people aren’t receiving benefits unless they had a chase card before they joined. It seems like the author was lucky. I appreciate that he updated the chase page, but I think this is def YMMV whereas Amex seems to be 100%. Chase definitely needs a big warning associated with its SCRA benefits.
@Mackin – @Benji is absolutely right, Chase has been hit or miss, and I still, after multiple emails and calls, haven’t found a definitive answer why. Amex is 100%, as is (so far) Capital One and Citi. So, I’d recommend getting a Chase card with the first year’s fee waived, so you can downgrade or cancel if they don’t waive it.
@Benji and Andy, thanks for the reply. I must have missed the update about Chase/ I have had no problem getting everything waived from Amex, they have been awesome. Looks like I will give Citi and CapOne next. Thanks.
5 minute phone call to Barclays and I am all set. They said an LES would also satisfy their requirements.
@benji – good to hear, and thanks for the info. Sorry about the Chase cards, not quite sure what to do about that.
Spoke with a nice rep named Stephanie. She was very happy to help and like mentioned above told me a LES would suffice.
Wish I knew about this while on active duty. My understanding is companies only need to comply with the law when a SM is deployed. Looks like most of the companies are doing it full-time to save the hassle of re-activating fees between deployments.
Just got off the phone with US Bank. They do not waive annual fees.
Just called Barclaycard. They processed my SCRA request verbally over the phone. No orders required.
The phone 1-800-453-9719 is not a fax # for Barclays. It is the reconsideration # for Chase.
Wow.Barclaycard is amazing. Their representative James was very helpful, thanked me for my service twice, immediately said “no problem. I can take care of that.” Waived my fees for the duration of my enlistment and told me to call again when I reenlist to have it extended. No waiting in line, no menus. It was the most pleasant phone conversation I’ve ever had with a customer service rep and I was asking for something they are not obliged to do.
I didn’t get no luck with Barclay, the lady said that I should have had the card before joining the military so I didn’t get any benefits. you all are very lucky
@Carlos – Agreed. Barclay and Amex are the two companies about which I’ve heard the most good stuff. Chase has been great to me as well, although I know some people have had issues with them.
Thanks for the Article, I hope that this process works. I have received the same letter, however i have not seen my “annual fee change on the card. I will give it another cycle and check again.
How many cycles did it take for them to change your fee?
Erik
Just called… took them 2 transfers to get someone (specialist) that could help, but after that, the representative was super nice and very helpful. She thanked me for my service 3 times, and when I didn’t give a “WOW” about the benefits she jokingly said she would explain it better. Here’s the deal:
-NO FEES EVER (annual, late payment, etc) for length of service (WOW!)
-0% APR for length of service (Oh my gosh…. WOW!!!)
To which she said “there’s the reaction I was looking for.” Awesome credit card. Of note: the fax number has changed and she said she would need my most recent set of orders to be faxed in. No issue there.
@ Matt – Thanks for the good report. Could you share the new fax number with everyone?
Just called – the first attempt went to the voice mail, but the second call was answered promptly. It said some collections department, so I had to confirm – he knew exactly what SCRA was. I told him my AD start date, and he asked me to fax my most recent orders to 877-523-0482. He said to take my time because he will apply the benefit to this year, and also extend it to next year – but once they get the orders, they will extend it out to the furthest time range listed on the orders. Took less 5 min – impressive!
Does anyone have experience opening an additional card with Barclays after calling them about SCRA benefits? I called today about the one card that I have with Barclays (AA Aviator Mastercard) and am thinking about getting another one or upgrading the one I have now. Will the fees continue to be waived or will I need to call again? I forgot to ask.
I called their main customer service number first. Waste of time. She had no idea what I was asking about and insisted that they did not waive annual fees. I looked around and found this website and called the direct SCRA phone number and had no problems. They may have updated their fax, or they have multiple number: 877-523-0482 is what I was given.
Awesome, the trackback hit! I was coming over to tell you about a post that we just published… Love the site, keep up the good work!
did they give you any money back?
What about army reserve?
@ David – Typically only when you are put on orders. However, some have reported success even when in a TPU status. The worst they can do is say no.
As of November 2016 the Barclay Gold Card no longer provides SCRA benefits if you got the card after being on Active Duty. Only if you had the card prior to military. I have called twice and got the same response.
I just called to have SCRA applied to my gold card and the guy on the SCRA line said their policy changed nov 28th, 2016 and they no longer apply the benefits to those of us who were active when we signed up for the card, I asked if he could apply the benefits since I had actually signed up for the card prior to the 28th and he said no, looks like it’s too late to get in on the gold card benefits anymore.
Daniel,
Were not able to get any of the SCRA benefits? 0% APR? or is it just the fees that are no longer waived?
Thanks for the information,
Ben
I just called in as well, and they are not applying any SCRA benefits to the account unless you got the card prior to your active duty start date.
Seems like they are exploiting a technicality
I don’t know why everyone is having trouble because I have no fees and 0% APR for both barclay and amex. All of my cards through them I’ve gotten while active duty, not prior to joining. They’ve been great with me.
same here. They denied srca benefits because I got the barclays card after joining AD. If anyone finds a way to circumvent this please let us know.
Completely exploiting a technicality. Its absolute B.S. The way they word it is that we are not eligible for SCRA because we did not have the account prior to being active duty. This is B.S. because we are all eligible under SCRA, its just that the benefits under SCRA in relation to debts are only valid if the debt was incurred prior to active duty status. Before I opened the account i called and they said i would getit waived, and now i found out i can’t. I feel duped.
btw, we should fight back.
pull your SCRA verification from this site: https://scra.dmdc.osd.mil/single_record.xhtml
Then scan a pdf of your “not eligible for SCRA benefits” letter from Barclays.
Email both these documents to justice department SCRA@usdoj.gov , saying that Barclays is incorrectly categorizing you as “NOT ELIGIBLE”, and ask for their help.
Then go onto this site and submit the same complaint:
https://www.justice.gov/servicemembers/webform/welcome-servicemembers-and-veterans-initiative-s-complaint-assistant
STEVE, I did this and haven’t gotten a reply. How long do you think it will take? I applied and got the mastercard gold card and now they wont waive the fees because i applied after my first day of active duty….
…so, I did not know that Barclay’s recently changed their policy of waiving the annual fee of their credit cards for military members and just recently applied for an American Airlines card. I rcvd the first notice and called to request the annual fee waiver for military; as I have done with my other two Barclay cards in the past.
The CSR transferred me to the military rep and the military rep told me about the recent SCRA change that Barclay’s instituted. As others had mentioned, he stated that I would no longer be eligible to get the annual fee waiver.
This really SUCKS big time – I’ve told lots of my co-workers and troops about how awesome AMEX and Barclay’s is to military members – I’m sure I’ve sent a LOT of business to AMEX and Barclay’s (which turns into interchange fees that they generate every time a card is used).
I hope AMEX does not do anything similar.
The one good thing he did state, was the my existing cards would be grand-fathered in and I would not have an annual fee on those cards.
doctor of credit is now reporting that those of us grandfathered in will also have to start paying annual fees: http://www.doctorofcredit.com/barclaycard-makes-changes-grandfathered-scra-credit-cards/
Hi everyone,
Barclay did promise us that as long as we are in the military, we will never have to pay annual or interest fees. As nov 2016, they changed the policy and instead of grandfather those who they made they promise, they said that now everyone has to pay.
This was a lie from the beginning just to get more customers and members into their gold card. we are gathering all the evidence and witnesses to present a case in court if Barclay doesn’t grandfather those who got the card under the initial promise.
we will fight back!
8/14/2017-Called Barclaycardus, and indeed those who didn’t have a card prior to service are “Not eligible.”
Everyone please fill out the complain under Steve(please see above) link
I was notified by mail from my Barclay luxury card that the fee would not be waived anymore. Since I opened my card when I was AD and am still AD. Sorry not paying the $995 annual fee. Going back to AMEX.