Barclays Smart Investor Pension Review

Terrible service. Hargreaves and ii much better

17/06/2021

does not work with iphone !

28/02/2021

Trading in app is super simple. Love the free dividend reinvestment. Super value as long as you have >£10k portfolio. You just need to be comfortable that the online service feels clunky, but I can deal with that now the app is so slick.

12/02/2021

Quick efficent reliable The Reviewer is Post-retirement age.

13/11/2020

Extremely expensive for what they offer. Website works well, annual reports riddled with mistakes. Customer service erratic and poor when querying mistakes they have made The Reviewer is Post-retirement age.

23/10/2020

Does what I need it to do, and much cheaper than my previous platform. I love that I can see my investments along with my banking products and it's great that I can now transact via the app

16/10/2020

I use four online stockbrokers and Barclays does not compare favourably with the other three. The website is poor. It only caters for UK shares, funds & ETFs. It is directed at beginners & over emphasises the risks that investors take. In my view I would label it as "pedestrian".

18/08/2020

I inherited Barclays when Schwab left the UK market. I always intended to move. I'm close to the £85K FSCS limit so I've just spent 3 days researching 15 platforms. I'm a fairly confident investor. I wanted more functionality as I transfer some old Cash ISAs to an Investment ISA. Narrowed down to 3, I realised they did not offer flexible ISAs, so I can't take cash out and return it without using up my allowance! However, Barclays DOES offer this. So I'm staying at the moment - it's not that bad. Also, there are signs that a proper app may be offered in the future, which would help.

19/05/2020

The site is poor to navigate even using a laptop, but using the Barclays app Smart Investor is non functional other then showing a summary of your holdings. It isn't even possible to transfer money from one of your current accounts to fund Investor from the app or to settle any fees, which makes the experience awful. I have also found Smart Investor slow to execute deals/orders placed thereby missing the best prices at the time.

07/05/2020

The search landing pages are nothing short of amazing. The information is clear and the platform is presented with beautiful effect.

23/04/2020

Dreadful access issues - steer clear if you can.

06/04/2020

Had a product with Barclays stockbroker service that guaranteed 80% of my investment. It guaranteed 80% of the highest rate that the fund achieved. Now they have moved to smart invest, I have lost that 80% guarantee and now they also want me to pay a monthly fee for the privilege of having an inferior account. After being a customer for about 20 years they now want me to confirm who I am by photocopying my passport and driving licence otherwise they say I cannot invest or purchase funds. Time to jump ship, I'm afraid.

28/01/2020

Very expensive for larger portfolios. On-line functionality is good though it can be difficult to find a specific fund or ETF. Administration is a nightmare. 2 years in a row the annual statement was incorrect. The 2018 SIPP statement was sent 9 months late and was incorrect as well. When queried they stated it takes so long to produce because it goes through a rigorous checking process! But said nothing about the figures being wrong. Following year figures were once again incorrect. I keep my own records as can't rely on theirs.

23/01/2020

Service and website is extremely poor. Can't trade live due to poor services. I think fee is competitive. Avoid this service!

30/07/2019

Tried to log on this morning, error fault 2224 AGAIN, tried to phone - office closed - so will have to wait until Monday. I expect it will be the same old spiel again - it's MY browser - clear my history - unless they have yet another excuse for their own incompetency.

25/05/2019

Easy to use and relatively cheap pricing. Good for my everyday investment.

21/03/2019

Nightmare since move to new platform Smart Investor have deducted tax from my ISA dividends, so subsequent purchases from dividend were all wrong. Inappropriately locked some shares due to a "corporate action", never answer email or letter complaints. Don't know how they have not been reported for these kind of failings, now moving elsewhere as I can stand it no longer.

04/03/2019

A lot more work to be done on website.

02/03/2019

Product fine until you try to get your money---- don't expect to receive speedily, and if anything goes wrong resolution will be approx 3-4 months, or in my case still waiting despite numerous promises that everything was in hand!

22/02/2019

Nothing. I held an ISA there fornearly 20 years. Their 'changes' to 'smart investor' wereacompletemess. go back to the way they were before smart investor

19/12/2018

I like the integration with my current account - which I have had years longer prior to being moved over from Barclays Stockbrokers. Finding articles / help generally isn't easy - there's no ability to search for stuff.

19/12/2018

Like the simplicity. Would improve charges

19/12/2018

The transition to "Barclays Smart Investor" from "Barclays Stock Brokers" is a downgrade. No personal contact, no email facility. You speak to an anonymous person on the phone. Useless complaints procedure which is bureaucratic. Contract note layouts are difficult to decipher. Website is difficult to navigate. Dividends paid without knowing who they come from. 3 separate tax statements, revised end of August, by which time a tax return had been sent out. Fees are based on stock value. I have migrated to Hargreaves Lansdown - a breath of fresh air compared to Barclays. Proper stockbrokers, not Mickey Mouse like Barclays.

13/12/2018

No comment.

12/11/2018

Smart Investor gives very poor service, the website is not customer friendly. Staff take a very long time to resolve technical issues.

10/11/2018

It has a very wide range of investments, unlike some other providers which only offer their own investments or a restricted choice. Smart Investor can be accessed from a desktop viewer but not from their mobile app which is a bit annoying. I already have Barclays bank accounts so it was convenient to set up after seeing an advert.

07/11/2018

Very poor service. Still waiting for my cheque 2 months after cancelling investment because of an unmanageable account.

02/09/2018

Very inefficient , inaccurate online accounts, overpriced. I am stuck with them as the risk of trying to move my portfolio quickly and smoothly is so great. I tried to move one holding of international stocks when they would no longer hold them for me and it took several months and endless phone calls. They are now offering to hold my cash in a seperate account and give me the amazing interest rate of 0.05%.....impressive ! The Bank of England has just gone up to 0.75%, so there is a way to go. AVOID Barclays.

09/08/2018

Smart investor is poor beyond belief, I have a £200,000 SIPP + 2 ISAs (one partners which I manage as well, at least i did ) frankly their dumbed down overpriced new offering is frighteningly bad. I am recovering from surgery and as soon as I am well enough and have worked out the best place to move to I will be off ( looks like Hargreaves Lansdown to me).

26/07/2018

Since the changeover its an ongoing disaster conducted from the same base in Glasgow. I, like many, can't get out until I sell my shares. Everything about the website is difficult and even after months of working with it, I still cant find my way round it easily. I can only presume they don't want our business.

16/07/2018

An on-going catastrophe - after 20 years I have finally given up on it, with the last 10 months of their new platform a disaster, but I cannot get money out.

22/06/2018

No comment

06/06/2018

Crap.

04/06/2018

The ability to switch between my personal banking and investments is great, very easy and straightforward website.

04/06/2018

It is such a shame that a previously excellent service has been completely ruined and become very expensive. Now trying to transfer to another provider has become very difficult with very long delays. I feel very sorry for the great staff who have always answered the phones in Glasgow and probably get a lot of stick while the senior management responsible seem to have had no come back. Martin Cornwall

24/05/2018

After 9 months this platform is still a disaster. It can't be trusted and it still gets the numbers wrong. Keep well clear. It must be shut down eventually.

21/05/2018

Absolutely not user friendly, bring back the old one. To think someone actually got paid for designing the new one is unbelievable!

17/05/2018

I have got a really small investment as a result of receiving some shares in the old Norwich Union. Suddenly I am having to pay out money every month, whereas I never did before in the days prior to Barclays Smart Investor. The value of the shares is not increasing but the value of my extremely modest 'portfolio' is reducing as a result of the charges. I am not a savvy investor and I am really stumped as to what to do. Feel like just selling the shares.

16/05/2018

Moving to smart investor is a joke. Another way for Barclays to take people's hard earned cash off them. My stocks' not moving anywhere at present and going down by the month because of Barclays' fees. Sick of Barclays. Have sold all my shares now and closed account. Going to look elsewhere going forward. Been with them a long time but will sick of the way they treat their customers!

27/04/2018

Terrible. The switch from Barclays Stockbrokers to Smart Investor has been an unmitigated disaster. It's expensive, provides poor information and help is hard to get. Awful.

22/04/2018

Have been extremely happy with the old Barclays Stockbrokers system - easy to deal, fees clear and good value and website efficient. The new Smartinvestor is anything but - absolutely appalling - website difficult to navigate and unclear, new charges unclear but greatly increased. Have today tried to take up a rights issue and after wasting a lot of time online trying to sort out what I had to do, have resorted to telephoning Barclays - I had to wait at least 5 mins - obviously others are having the same problem.

16/03/2018

Just received my first charges from Barclays Smart Investor and I feel like I've been completely ripped off. They're basically stealing part of my wealth every month. The service on the new trading platform has also been reduced - it's now basically trading for dummies. Goodbye Barclays...

12/03/2018

Smart Investor is anything but smart! I'm moving to Hargreaves Lansdown as have many of my friends.

12/03/2018

It's been an absolute disaster for me. My fees are now astronomical [even though its capped at GBP200,000 for ex Barclays Stockbrokers], and after months and months of study I still can't get around the new website successfully. Add to that daily problems of logging in and being logged out when changing pages, it's harsh. Add further that i am afraid to transfer my accounts on account of the time [can't afford to be out of the market] and mistakes that Barclays make, so will probably cash out individual investments thereby incurring transaction and stamp duty costs in placing investments with an alternative service provider - it's the lesser of the two evils which Barclays fait accompli have presented me with.

23/02/2018

Hassle free. Charges seem in line with rivals, so ease of use of Internet services is the clincher.

30/01/2018

The service is not as good as it was as Barclays Stockbrokers and the research appears to have disappeared.

30/01/2018

The new account is more clunky than Barclays Stockbrokers.

30/01/2018

Had a lot problems over the last few months. Instruction letters have been lost so I have now been told to send everything recorded delivery. It has taken over a month to add a nominated account. New website is clunky.

30/01/2018

Poor service.

30/01/2018

I don't like anything about it and haven't taken the plunge to move yet as I'm scared they will make a big error. Customer service could be improved. Time to transfer money from one account to another could be improved.

30/01/2018

Changes made last year resulted in complaints from users but my experience was ok allowing for teething problems initially.

30/01/2018

Moving on to Smart Investor platform was problematic but it seems to work ok now. Again, telephone service very good as back up to online.

30/01/2018

Need more guidance.

30/01/2018

Move of platform from Stockbrokers to Smart Investor has been a disaster. Customer service team is busy firefighting, methinks!!

30/01/2018

Very easy to use.

30/01/2018

Research is good. Interface is terrible.

30/01/2018

I like that it�s integrated with my Barclays Bank accounts and I like the huge range of investments and the detailed information sheets.

30/01/2018

Was very happy with Barclays Stockbrokers but Smart Investor has given me one problem after another. Trying to transfer to Interactive Investor, but they are making that very difficult.

03/01/2018

Since my account was transferred to Smart Investor I have been unable to buy shares quickly as I did before as the system of direct debit whereby I could buy over the phone and Barclayshare would take the money from my account directly. Last time I tried to buy shares I was told I couldn't and it took 2 weeks, during which time the share price had risen considerably. Also on my account, individual companies who pay dividends are not named so it is hard to keep track on which are paying out. I HATE IT! It used to be exciting, now it's boring.

30/12/2017

Barclays had an excellent self-select ISA but now have a disaster. The massive increase in fees for large accounts must mean that they do not want them.

29/12/2017

Useless web site.

22/12/2017

Long term Barclays Stockbrokers client (I think BT originally owned the business). New product is an order of magnitude more expensive for largish investors. Start up of service was a shambles with a last minute switch of address to that of dormant account, despite all previous letters being sent to the new one. Still waiting for transfer to come through despite being requested mid-September. How a large company can go for big bang approach whilst it not apparently being properly tested and them being prepared for a deluge of transfers/complaints is mind boggling. Hopefully they get badly nailed by the FCA for this.

21/12/2017

I've been with Barclays for forty four years so last year thought I'd use them for stocks and shares ISA and investment accounts. All seemed well until I was switched to Smart Investor. Log in issues, dividends not credited for weeks and a feature I liked under corporate actions dividend entitlements has been removed. The reason: a 'business decision' apparently after complaints, but can't they simply have a choice to include dividend events or not? The representative I spoke to said there might be a dividend tab added in the future. I'm not waiting to see if the website improves in a number of areas and intend to transfer elsewhere. As many have said this has been poorly thought through and I'm guessing built by amateurish people who have no grasp of the investment world.

21/11/2017

The switch to Smart Investor has been a complete shambles. The new service cannot handle the same financial products than the previous platform, and the research and information pages are difficult to access and inadequate when you do find them. On top of all that the site appears to have implemented without any significant testing because there are many problems and issues that should have been resolved. Some of the more obvious examples are the inability to download account, order and trading history to csv files or excel format, and the site logs you off for "inactivity" after a very short time - what appears to be about 1 or 2 minutes, so even if you are trying to do research and clicking on links it does not include this as "activity" and logs you out. The login process is too slow and onerous compared to other sites I use.

20/11/2017

Fortunately managed to transfer out after about 10 weeks, but still receiving a 'Stock alert' day after day. Wife's portfolio is still with them. Total disaster after such a good service previously. Anyone found a way to send a"secure message" yet?

16/11/2017

Problems with Barclays ironically-named Smart Investor led me to asking them to transfer my family's accounts to iWeb. That was on August 28. iWeb have confirmed in writing that it took six approaches from them before Barclays agreed the transfer, on the last day of October. And each account will probably be frozen for three months while the transfers go through. So I shall be unable to access my life-savings for the best part of five months! It is a national scandal. Barclays Smart Investor is the financial services' answer to Care In The Community.

01/11/2017

Transferring funds to another provider as soon as possible.

28/10/2017

I shall be moving my accounts to Hargreaves. No ability to link accounts (mine and my wife's). After raising a complaint I'm ridiculously told by a Customer Complaints Adviser that this is a business decision based on customer feedback - what they listened to customers who told them they didn't want this - don't make me laugh! Who is the Director accountable, they wont say. I get told tough and if you don't like it take it up with the Financial Services Ombudsman. I have been a loyal customer of Barclays for over 35 years. You've seriously messed up and should be big enough to admit it and give some indication of when you are likely to put things right.

26/10/2017

Creating the new site for share trading has some benefits for those already banking with Barclays but the decision to simultaneously move platforms and change the fee structure was stupendously idiotic, one that has led to all the leavers not being to access their account for months on end. Not something I expect from a professional organisation.

20/10/2017

The whole thing has been a disaster from beginning to end – more faults than a dog has fleas. A well-deserved disaster for Barclays, but an undeserved and bigger one for the victims of its rotten new ThickInvestor design and its just-as-bad implementation. Who on earth designed this piece of junk – and which higher-ups, from CEO downward, ever allowed it to be put in place? Both sets of genii are highly qualified for new jobs running a sweet-stall.

18/10/2017

I have moved, quite simply this is site for occasional fund investors who bank with Barclays, it is not a site for self managed investors wanting to trade in any other financial instruments. there are numerous problems and a lot of the functionality that was there has now gone. The one positive is it is much faster to transfer out from the new service than the old one according to the staff at Barclays.

17/10/2017

Clunky, requires a bank reader to trade, uninformed staff, this is a giant leap backwards. As a very long term Barclays Stockbrokers customer, I shall be moving all my trading accounts to a more professional provider.

16/10/2017

It simply does NOT work on Linux. On ANY browser. And the support staff are useless. It's slow, it's buggy, and it's less functional than the old site. Avoid like gonorrhoea.

04/10/2017

Not half as good as the old Stockbrokers system. Trumpeted for the linking with bank accounts, which is useful. However the need to keep resetting a button that separates types of investments is intensely irritating as it defaults every time you leave a page and then return to it. It also requires action to get investments to display in alphabetical order rather than by largest value. Clearly designed from the top down rather than the bottom up. Do they ever talk to their clients about what they want to see?!

29/09/2017

Barclays Smart investor??? Don't make me laugh, it will be a Dumb Investor that stays with Barclays - I'm still waiting for my Lloyds dividend to arrive - the sooner my accounts move to a different provider the better. "Event details. Lloyds Banking Group PLC ORD 10P (LLOY.XLON.GB) has declared a GBP 0.010000000 per share interim dividend. Investors who held shares on 9 August 2017 are entitled to receive this dividend and it is expected to be paid on 27 September 2017. Important information - We will aim to update your account within five business days of receiving the proceeds."

29/09/2017

The transfer to the new website was appalling. Customer care gave conflicting advice, one person was even bordering on aggressive.

26/09/2017

Smart Investor is a disaster.

12/09/2017

Goodbye to Barclays Stockbrokers ... If you want to deal shares online, including with a stocks and shares ISA, the new Barclays Smart Investor platform is absolute rubbish. Why, oh why, did they have to change from the old, stockbroking site format? The previous Barclays Stockbrokers format was much more professional, with most information required available at a glance with graphs etc., it was quick and easy to use. The new share dealing format is so bad, I am now looking around for a more professional stockbroker, I just can't cope with the so-called 'Smart Investor', it is obviously NOT intended as a serious, regular, share dealing/broking service. If you just want to buy some shares and hold them indefinitely, it may work for you. If you want to play the market and do any quick, regular or day trading, you had best go someplace else, this format is a nightmare. My verdict - if you really are a smart investor you won't be joining or remaining with this outfit. So, its goodbye to Barclays Stockbrokers and goodbye to Smart Investor.

04/09/2017

The worst share dealing site ever.

03/09/2017

A giant leap backwards from the previous Barclays Stockbrokers Investment ISA and online investment. For me, five times more expensive in fees. Terrible customer service – basically they don't want your money and are trying to persuade investors to go elsewhere. That at least seems to be the only thing that is working!

03/09/2017

Barclays Stockbrokers was a good independent site with nearly everything you wanted. The new Smart Investor is not smart at all and has loads of stuff you do not want and little that you do. It cannot even display daily change of individual stocks in your portfolio. Also seems unable to display account history or stock history. If you were a former Barclays Stockbrokers client you do not have to have a Barclays current account but this in itself has caused other problems like being locked out for 2 days!

01/09/2017

Barclays have just moved everyone to the so called Smart Investor website without any customer choice in the matter. Awful site, awful design, full of bugs. When you call the telephone helpline you get some guy in India who just passes you on to someone else and then someone else etc. Awful poorly trained customer service team who could not care less if you closed your account. I am going to change as soon as I find another ISA stocks and shares provider. Save yourself a load of hassle and avoid Barclays.

31/08/2017

At present the so called Smart Investor is looking anything but Smart. I cannot believe it has been tested by real investors. For instance there seems to be no way of editing previous limit orders, no Epic codes, no third-part access, etc. The UI looks like it has be done as a sixth form project. Besides the general unfriendly non-intuitive interface why show shares held down to the fourth decimal point? Can I really buy one ten thousandth part of a share? The old system worked well. The new system seems to be a great leap backwards. There seems to be no easy way of contacting Barclays unless you want to waste hours on the phone. The webchat is constantly busy. There is not an email system running for Smart Investor. If you have queries and try to send an email you are blocked and told to ring up or use webchat. This is not an option unless you want to waste a lot of time. Lots of error messages and the occasional system crash. All in all a very poor start to the new platform. Unless it improves I for one will be a smart investor and leave. If you are reading this and are about to open a Barclays “Smart Investor" account my advice is to wait and see how this new system beds in. It present it is a very poor shadow of the previous platform which had very few faults, but nothing like the serious faults the new system has. There are major flaws with Smart Investor, some are coming out on this page, others will follow. If you are think about opening Smart Investor account then my advice is to wait a least a month and keep your eye on these comments. Don't be fooled by its name – Smart Investor it is not. Other more serious platforms are available. Barclays stockbroking has badly slipped up with this change.

30/08/2017

Who provided the headline review? They cannot know anything about investing or the old site. I will be moving my platform asap even if it costs more as the new site is abysmal. Many others have stated what I feel, amateurish, lost detail or buried in other pages, lost all of the virtual portfolio etc, etc. Barclays should sack all of the team that implemented this and provide significant compensation for all users.

30/08/2017

Not sure who this is aimed at... people taking their first step into self investment perhaps? It's like Tomy or Fisher Price made it... woeful. As a former client of the excellent Barclays Stockbrokers, I shall be closing my account as soon as I possibly can. A huge, huge downgrade.

30/08/2017

As a Barclays customer with current accounts, everything suggested, and still suggests I log in as normal and despite historically left hand not being able to talk to right hand, this would miraculously change. New login details don't work and accuse of double account in same name. I now can't get into to see my investments at all. Complete load of TOSH.

30/08/2017

Not so smart. In fact very much dumber than the old. Looks like they let the kids redesign the site over the holidays. Takes too much space for very little data and reduced functionality. How many decimal places do you need? Four decimal place filled with zeroes shows this never had any numerate input. A whopping failure.

30/08/2017

Relies on Barclays Banking site. Bank site not the easiest to navigate, relies on using pin sentry, very inconvenient if accessing from a location other than home, very poor telephone service, totally opposite to the previous Barclays Stockbroker site which I would have recommended.

07/08/2017

Increased cost. Unfriendly website. Complete loss of third party user access. Only shows your account and not all family multiple accounts with previous user access. Their response is if you don't like it go elsewhere!!

02/08/2017

The fees are supposed to be clearer and fair - what a load of rubbish. It's now so complicated and far more expensive than it used to be that I'm moving my portfolio.

13/07/2017

Quality.

04/07/2017

It's too complicated.

04/07/2017

Comprehensive service and ease of use.

04/07/2017

International trader should support multiple currency settlement.

04/07/2017

Need to improve the website and fees (they were previously very low).

04/07/2017

Really liked their website - mostly the people at customer service were pretty good. However, I am moving because they have hiked their fees enormously for someone with a portfolio value like me.

04/07/2017

Good responsive customer service but the fees are a little high. It has really excellent research tools compared to other providers.

04/07/2017

Cheap and simple. They need a dedicated person for large accounts even though execution only. Its massively frustrating recounting the details of an issue to the Nth service rep. Cost is ok service is poor.

04/07/2017

I like the breadth of coverage but there isn't a mobile app. Its pretty antiquated compared to other services.

04/07/2017

It works. Call centre is friendly and efficient. Website seems a bit old fashioned but overall it is relatively simple and serviceable. Could be jazzed up a bit but its good enough that I haven't felt the need to transfer to another service.

04/07/2017

I think the company has a very good reputation and is very transparent. This is the first investment service I have used.

O

04/07/2017

Its convenient but staff could be better trained.

I

04/07/2017

Whenever I have had to phone them for advice I have had excellent service. I would say that the cost per trade could be improved as its more expensive than other services I've used.

04/07/2017