Barclays Bank: Savings and CDs Review

Our verdict

Barclays Bank offers corporate and personal banking solutions with a range of available products, including bank accounts, personal loans and credit cards. If you’re in the market for a high-yield savings account or CD, Barclays could be a fitting option. You won’t find any business bank accounts at Barclays, but it does have business credit cards. Overall, Barclays Bank is a solid choice if you’re looking for competitive rates on savings products and don’t need access to a full-service branch network.

Best for: Those who want to grow their savings with minimal costs.

Is Barclays Bank right for you?

Barclays is a solid pick if your main goal is to grow your savings without paying extra fees. You can earn rates up to 4.00% APY, and there’s no minimum balance to worry about.

That said, because Barclays doesn’t offer checking accounts or physical branches in the US, you have to be comfortable with doing all your banking digitally.

How Barclays Bank stacks up

Barclays offers some of the best rates you’ll find on savings accounts and CDs, but it’s not right for everyone. Here are some pros and cons to consider before banking with Barclays.

Where it shines

A decent choice for low-fee savings with competitive APYs.

• No monthly fees. Barclays doesn’t charge any monthly maintenance fees, and most of its other fees are lower than what you’ll see at many banks.
• No minimum balance. You can open an account and earn interest without keeping a set amount in your account.
• Unlimited withdrawals. The Barclays Online Savings Account doesn’t cap the number of withdrawals you can make each month.

Where it falls short

Barclays probably isn’t the bank if you want full-service banking.

• No US branches. Barclays has physical locations in the UK, but you won’t find physical branches in the States.
• No checking option. Barclays doesn’t have checking accounts for everyday spending.
• Limited withdrawal methods. To access your money, you’ll need to transfer it to another bank or request a paper check, since there’s no ATM access.

Barclays Bank savings accounts

Barclays offers two online savings accounts that earn competitive APYs. There are no monthly maintenance fees or minimum deposit requirements, and both options are available to open entirely online.

• Barclays Online Savings. This high-yield online account offers a high 3.60% APY with no maintenance fees and no minimum deposit required.
• Barclays Tiered Savings. An online account that offers a high-yield APY (up to 4.00% APY) with qualifying balances of more than $250,000. On lesser amounts, you’ll earn 3.85% APY. Like Barclays Online Savings, this account comes with no maintenance fees and no minimum deposit requirements.

Barclays Bank CDs

Barclays has fixed-rate online CDs with terms that range from 12 to 60 months. You don’t need to meet minimum deposit requirements, which makes these CDs more accessible than many competitors. You can open and manage your CD entirely online, and your rate is locked for the entire term. Just note that early withdrawals will result in a penalty.

View current rates on Barclays’ CD rates page.

Other Barclays Bank products
Though Barclays doesn’t offer a checking account, it does have a few other bank products that may be a good fit for you.

• Personal credit cards. Barclays offers a number of personal credit cards, including Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard, Barclaycard Ring Mastercard, Barclaycard Visa, Miles & More World Elite Mastercard and Choice Privileges Visa Signature Card.
• Business credit cards. If you need a credit card for your business, Barclays offers the AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard, JetBlue Business Card and Hawaiian Airlines Business Mastercard.
• Personal loans. Barclays personal loans offer funds of up to $35,000, with maximum loan terms of up to five years.

Customer reviews

Barclays has a high Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating of A+, but it also has over 3,000 customer complaints in the last few years, and the reviews don’t look so great. Most complaints were about issues with credit cards, fraudulent withdrawals on accounts and poor customer service. That said, these negative reviews are quite common for banks.

In terms of Barclays’ savings accounts, most of the complaints were about limited access to funds, disappointment with not being able to make direct cash deposits and frustrations with the long hold on deposited funds.

Barclays’ Trustpilot profile has over 12,000 reviews. The most common complaints are trouble reaching a real person, no branch access, a so-so mobile app, poor service and accounts being frozen after big deposits.

To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Bethany Hickey as part of our fact-checking process.

Written by

Jamela Adam

Contributor

Jamela Adam is a personal finance writer with over three years of experience. Her work has been published in major publications, including Yahoo Finance, Forbes Advisor, U.S. News, Business Insider, GOBankingRates, CNN Underscored, and Chime. Jamela previously worked as a content marketing specialist and helped devise content strategies for major brands in the financial services space. She is also a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI). See full bio