I currently have a credit card with Barclaycard. I never use it for any purchases or withdrawals or anything, but I have it there in case I need it.

Today they sent me an email containing some changes to their terms and condition. I was going to delete it, but curiosity made me read it instead. I found the following change to be very interesting:

Barclaycard Balances and Payments (Condition 3.1)
Previously Cash-Like Transactions and Gaming Transactions were treated as Purchases. These Transactions will now be treated as Cash and we’ll charge a Transaction Fee and interest at the Cash Rate.
For clarity:-

	Cash-Like Transactions include the sending of money orders or wire transfers.
	Gaming Transactions include gambling, betting and other transactions relating to gaming, such as the purchases of lottery tickets or gaming chips or purchases made at gambling establishments or on websites.

So they’re basically making some purchases count as cash instead of purchases because cash generally has a much higher rate of interest on it. Their wording of the Gaming Transactions section is a bit bizarre though. At the start of the update they’re saying how they’re cash-like payments. They then go on to say “such as the purchases of lottery tickets or gaming chips or purchases made […]”

I’m not really sure how they can say that something they define as being a purchase is actually a cash withdrawal, and then charge people for it.