Our guarantee for Online Banking and the Barclays app

When you use our Online Banking services or the Barclays app, you're protected by our guarantee. 

This means that if you tell us a payment from your account wasn’t authorised and ask us for a refund, we’ll reverse the transaction as soon as we can – as long as we think you’re entitled to a refund.

A refund includes paying money back into your account, refunding any charges and interest, and paying you any interest you might have missed out on.

Please tell us as soon as you can if you think there’s been an unauthorised payment from your account. By law, you must tell us within 13 months of it taking place. If you tell us later than this, though, we may still consider a refund. 

After looking into your claim, there are circumstances where we might decide that you’re not entitled to a refund.

We won’t give you a refund

1.      If we think you’re trying to commit fraud. We might involve the police in these cases

2.      If you deliberately, or through gross negligence

• Fail to secure your bank cards and PINs, Online Banking passcode, passwords, PINsentry device and codes, your computer, smartphone or tablet, and any other payment tools
• Don’t tell us as soon as possible that any of these payment tools have been lost, stolen or compromised – especially if you think someone else might be able to find or use them

3.      For any payments made before you told us that your payment tools were lost, stolen or compromised, unless

• Payment was made using a borrowing facility, such as an overdraft
• Payment was for something bought online or at a distance

You won’t be liable for unauthorised payments made from your account after you’ve told us that a payment tool was lost, stolen or compromised.

We may reverse or adjust a refund if we discover that you weren’t entitled to it.

An authorised push payment scam is where

• You intended to transfer money to someone, but were deceived into transferring the money to someone else
• You transferred money to someone for what you believed was a legitimate reason that turns out to be fraudulent

If you think you’ve been the victim of an authorised push payment scam, it’s important that you tell us as soon as possible so that we can try to recover your money, or check if you’re entitled to a refund.  

It’s important that you keep everything to do with your bank account safe. This includes your bank cards and PINs, Online Banking passcode, passwords, PINsentry device and codes, and the computer, smartphone or tablet you use for Online Banking or the Barclays app.

Here are some steps you should take to keep these safe.

PINs, passwords and passcodes

• Don’t share PINs, passcodes and passwords with anyone¹
• Don’t write down PINs, passcodes and passwords – memorise them and destroy any letters from us that show them

Choose a PIN, password or passcode that’s difficult to guess. Don’t use a simple sequence like ‘1234’, for example, or your date of birth.

Your computer, smartphone or tablet

• Don’t allow anyone else to use a device (or your account on a device) that could be used to access your bank details
• Don’t use a shared email address to receive emails that contain your bank details
• If your smartphone or tablet uses face or fingerprint security, don’t allow anyone else to register their face or fingerprint. We treat any transaction on your account that’s authorised in this way as authorised by you
• Take reasonable care when using Online Banking and the Barclays app. Log out at the end of each session and don’t leave your computer, smartphone or tablet unattended while you’re logged in
• Install any security updates from your device’s manufacturer and keep its apps up to date
• Use – and update regularly – antivirus and internet security software on your device

Everyday banking

• Tell us as soon as possible if you think someone else has used, or could use, your bank card, PIN or password
• Watch your account for anything you don’t recognise or can’t explain – and tell us about it as soon as you can
• Read any warnings we may give you about fraud and scams, particularly when setting up a new payee or amending a payee's details

• Our secure log-in protects your accounts when you use Online Banking and the Barclays app
• Your PINsentry device or Mobile PINsentry in the Barclays app give you an extra level of protection when you use Online Banking
• We log you out of the app automatically if you don’t do anything for 3 minutes – or 10 minutes when you’re using Online Banking