Barclays Bank Delaware is an online-only investment bank that was established in the U.S. in 2003. An online division of Barclays – the multinational financial services company headquartered in London that traces its history back to 1690 – this online institution has garnered recognition for convenience and high rates of return. For the purposes of this article, Barclays Bank Delaware, the online-only U.S. division of Barclays, will be referred to simply as Barclays. 

Barclays product suite is simple – with just an online savings account and a few standard term CDs.

That said, the accounts generally come with higher than average rates, plus zero fees or minimum balance requirements.

Barclays was also awarded a “Best Banks for Savings” rating by Nerdwallet in 2019 and consistently competes with the best products on the market.

You won’t be able to do all of your banking in one place with Barclays, but if you’re comfortable managing your savings digitally in the interest of earning better interest, Barclays might be a good fit.

Barclays Online Savings Account Rates + Details

Barclays has only one savings account, the Barclays Online Savings. This account offers a solid APY of 1.00%. Barclays is a member of FDIC, so all accounts opened with them are insured up to $250,000.

Minimum Balance	APY
$0	1.00%

How to open an account:

You can deposit funds by any of the following methods:

• you can set up direct deposits,
• make remote deposits through the app or website,
• transfer funds electronically through an ACH transaction,
• or mail a check to the following address: Barclays P.O. Box 4538 Carol Stream, IL 60197

To put this in perspective, the current national average for savings accounts sits at just 0.07% APY, although some banks are still offering APYs of up to 1.45%. Keep in mind these rates are variable and can change at anytime without notice.

There’s no minimum balance to open a Barclays Online Savings account and there are no monthly maintenance fees to worry about either. To get paid interest, just maintain an average daily minimum balance of $1.00. Dividends are compounded daily and credited monthly to your savings account or an external account. 

You can easily transfer funds to accounts with other banks for free (though you will have to wait 2 – 3 business days for these to go through), but you can do this six times per month without incurring fees. For each transaction after that, you’ll be charged $5. The only other fee attached to this account that you’ll want to know about is the $5 non-sufficient funds fee, which is significantly lower than what most banks charge.

How Does Barclays Online Savings Account Compare?

Shown below are today’s highest yielding online savings accounts available nationwide. Online banks tend to offer higher APYs than brick and mortar institutions as they have lower overhead costs and return those savings to customers in the form of higher rates.

Institution	APY	Notes	More
	1.25%	1.15% APY on $1k – $24,999 and 1.50% APY on $25k or more.	Review
	1.21%		Review
	1.20%	Must avg. 12,000 daily steps.	Review
	1.20%		Review
	1.20%	$4.50 monthly fee can be waived.	Review
	1.20%	$4 monthly fee charged if account dips below $1k.	Review
	1.10%		Review
	1.05%		Review

Barclay CD Rates + Account Details

Barclays’ certificate of deposit terms are fairly standard. Their APYs are higher than the current national averages for their respective terms, but better rates can be found elsewhere online and even through a handful of credit unions.

Barclays Online CD Rates

CD Term	APY
3 month	0.35%
6 month	0.65%
9 month	0.70%
12 month	0.85%
18 month	0.85%
24 month	0.85%
36 month	0.85%
48 month	0.85%
60 month	0.85%

To give the yields above some context, a 12 month CD currently holds an average APY of just 0.26% nationally.

There are no bump-up or special CDs currently offered through Barclays.

Interest on these deposit accounts are compounded daily and credited monthly. You will have the option of either keeping earned interest in your CD or having it disbursed monthly to your Barclays Online Savings account. You can edit this preference at any time. 30 days before your CD reaches maturity, you will be asked whether you’d like to renew or not.

There are no minimum balances or monthly maintenance fees, but as with most deposit products they do impose early withdrawal fees.

Early withdrawal fees are as follows:

• For terms of less than or equal to 24 months 90 days’ simple interest will be charged,
• for terms of greater than 24 months 180 days’ simple interest will be charged

If you have to make any changes or remove funds after renewal, try to do so within the 14 day grace period.

Barclays Online Banking Experience

Barclays has ATMs, but you won’t be able to access them if you’re an online-only customer because the Barclays Online Savings account does not come with an ATM card. There is also no U.S. branch network. To access your funds, you’ll have to transfer them to another account or cash out checks. And remember, Barclays does not offer a checking account at this time.

So what do users think of this online-only institution?

Reviews are very mixed.

Until recently, customers have generally been satisfied with their experience with this bank. Out of 220 reviews on DepositAccounts, the bank earned a 4-star customer rating. Out of 472 customer ratings on ConsumerAffairs, the institution earned about 3.2 stars. Finally, on WalletHub, Barclays scored a 3.8 out of 24.2 thousand user reviews—overall, the bank is rated somewhere between 3 and 4 stars out of 5. (Keep in mind, however, that some reviews are of the global company and not of the online, U.S.-based retail bank alone.)

In normal environments consumers seem to be satisfied with this bank, especially for its interest rates and the ease of use of its digital platform. But in the past few weeks, amidst the panic of COVID-19 and the worrisome financial situations of so many Americans that have resulted, Barclays has received an outpouring of overwhelmingly negative reviews. 

As customers seek help in the form of mortgage relief, advice, answers, and more, Barclays has allegedly become flaky and unpredictable. Many users have reported unexpected account closures and freezes and countless customers are unable to reach customer service representatives at all. Though this might not be the typical Barclays experience, you’ll want to decide for yourself whether Barclays is a bank you can trust using this information.

As for the Barclays mobile app, this scores a 4.8 out of 5 on Apple’s App Store and a 4.5 on Google Play. Users report that this app is functional and easy to navigate—if basic—though the general consensus seems to be that its quality declines with each required update. You can do your banking online if you prefer, and customer service can be reached at (888) 710-8756 Monday through Friday from 8 am to 8 pm or through the live chat function on the site.

Final Thoughts

Barclays online bank may meet your savings needs, but there are a few considerations you’ll want to take into account. 

For one, their customer service seems to be unsatisfactory, at least for the time being. This is a red flag that shouldn’t be ignored, especially when the bank in question is online-only and you won’t be able to go into a branch to have your questions answered and concerns heard.

For another, Barclays doesn’t have many products, so doing all of your banking in one place won’t be possible. There has been talk of an online checking account option becoming available, but this has yet to happen.

On the positive side, Barclays accounts do not have minimum balances or monthly maintenance fees and are, of course, have higher than average yields.