Barclaycard dumps UK expats in Portugal

Barclaycard has singled out UK account holders living in Portugal by telling them to cut up their cards by August this year.

The credit card company, owned by Barclays Bank Plc, says the 30,000 registered UK residents in Portugal, many of which have Barclaycard credit cards, must have a registered address in the UK or lose their card.

In a letter sent out by Barclaycard, UK citizens holding Barclaycards and living in or planning to emigrate to Portugal to live or retire are being advised to change their card provider a.s.a.p.

Customers, many of whom have banked with Barclays for years, have received emails as well as written correspondence from the bank giving a deadline for proof of a UK address. The move follows a previous attempt by the bank in 2014, when 39,000 expat clients who’d not used their cards for six months or more were contacted. 

The bank’s reply to media questions about the move was that it regularly reviews its policies, with changes now made to the list of eligible countries for expat residents with personal credit card accounts. Supported countries now include Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, France, Germany, Spain, Bermuda, Jersey, the Isle of Man, the Caymans, Australia, Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey and, believe it or not, the Falklands. Social media is having a field day, with expats in Portugal especially angry at a Barclays’ spokesperson’s comment that “we value all our customers’ business”.