The End of Barclays Blue Rewards.... Switching out Bank Accounts!
So you know it's not going to be good news when you get an email from your bank with this as the main graphic....
I've had a Barclays account for as long as I can remember, and subscribed to the Blue Rewards around a couple of years ago.
It costs £5 a month, but you get £5 cashback a month for subscribing, so it's basically free (Lloyds to something similar).
And having a Blue Rewards membership entitles you to certain benefits, most interestingly a 5% instant access savings account for up to £5K.
That's literally the only thing I'm interested in!
So as soon as I opened it I transferred, well, £5K right on over and have been skimming the £20 and odd interest a month into another account, no point having a penny over £5K, the interest rate for > that drops to 1%!
It's been good, the problem is they are now changing their Blue Reward terms....
So for £5 you now get access to Apple TV and American Soccer. The true value of the later to a European is very close to £0. And I'm not interested at all in streaming TV from Apple, there's not a lot on there TBH.
OK true I do get the 5% account, but there's LOTS of offers at around the 4.5% for instant access....
They're not even the best deals, they're the one's I've heard of.
Actually I've got an Oak North 90 days notice account which pays 5.3% which I'm gonna transfer all this Blue Reward Saver money into when the changes come into effect in early September...
The simple math....
- £5K at 5% = £250 a year.
- £5K at 4.5% - £225 a year.
- £5 times 12 months = £60.
- £60 - £25 = £35.
The question Barclays wants me ask myself is... 'is Apple TV worth £3 a month?'
The answers is... NO!
However the question I'm asking myself is 'WTF is this bullshit offer about, you're a fucking bank.
Banks be banks, don't be doing these STUPID membership deals, I don't give a shit.
I took the time to write a draft email.....
Soft Draft Email....
Dear Sir or Madame,
Thank you for the notification about the changes to Barclay's Blue Rewards.
I have made the decision to cancel my membership of Blue Rewards as I don't give a gnat's toss about Apple TV or American soccer.
Thank you,
Yours sincerely.... [insert name here]
Hassle...
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
LOL, direct..., why not?
Maybe, but there are some gems:
For All Mankind
Killers of the Flower Moon
Loot
Severance
Shantaram
Slow Horses
Sugar
Ted Lasso
Oh, Slow Horses is on Apple TV!
Oh OK maybe I cld binge for a month!
I feel the same about several of the retail membership cards I have, stuff I don't want and don't want to spare the cognitive load to remember. Boots is quite good, though, I'm often able to pay for my shopping with whatever I've accumulated.
Reward schemes are one thing, this is another, I hate this corporate link up nonsense!
co-op is offering 7% but the catch is only a max of £250 a month can be paid in and of course in 12mts they revert to a rate that is probably going to be unattractive, but in the meantime, instant access online is worth stashing the max for the next twelve months at least. their next best is about 4.5%ish but you only have 3 withdrawals a year, still and all, not a bad place to put the emergency cash into while you hope you don't need it.
Yeah those monthly savers are sly for that. OakNorth is pretty decent - 95 days notice 5.3%. I've opted for that. I've got enough in lower rate instant ISAs for emergencies!