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Barclaycard

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Barclaycard
Company typebrand
IndustryCredit cards
Founded1966; 58 years ago (1966)
Headquarters
London
,
England, United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsCredit cards
Contactless technology
ParentBarclays
Websitewww.home.barclaycard

Barclaycard (/ˈbɑːrklikɑːrd, -leɪ-/; stylized as barclaycard) is a brand for credit cards of Barclays PLC. As of 2010, Barclays had over ten million customers in the United Kingdom.[1]

History

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Barclays launched Barclaycard on 29 June 1966, initially as a charge card,[2] but following Bank of England agreement to the offering of revolving credit, it became the first credit card in the United Kingdom on 8 November 1967.[2] It enjoyed a monopoly of the credit card market in the United Kingdom until the introduction of the Access Card in October 1972.[2]

Barclays was not the first issuer of a credit card in the United Kingdom though; Diners Club and American Express launched their charge cards in 1962 and 1963 respectively.[3][2] Barclaycard was originally a BankAmericard licensee, and became part of the Visa network on its formation in September 1976.[2][4]

In 2021, Barclaycard cut credit limits for over 100,000 customers, including customers who had never missed a payment. In some cases limits were cut by over 95%, resulting in "completely useless" credit limits.[5][6][7]

Acquisitions

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Providian

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In July 2003, Barclays took over Monument, the United Kingdom branch of the U.S. bank Providian, when it was sold off due to financial irregularities of its American parent company.[8] Barclaycard sold the Monument business and premises to CompuCredit Holdings Corporation in April 2007.[9]

Egg

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In March 2011, Barclays announced that it would be buying the British credit card business of Egg from Citigroup for an undisclosed price. At the time of the announcement, Barclays claimed that the credit card assets consisted of 1.15 million accounts with approximately £2.3bn of gross receivables.[10] They intended to integrate those customers within their own credit card arm.

At the time of the announcement, Citi said it was "committed to working with Barclays on a seamless transfer of the customer accounts, ensuring continuation of the high level of service to which customers are accustomed".[11]

Analog Analytics

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In June 2012, Barclays acquired Analog Analytics, a digital coupon and daily deal business similar to Groupon.[12][13]

The Logic Group

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In September 2014, Barclays announced it was going to acquire The Logic Group,[14] a managed payment and loyalty business. The acquisition would enable Barclaycard's clients to benefit from The Logic Group's single platform transaction processing capabilities, alongside data insights, which would allow merchants to better target their services to customers.

In late 2014, Barclays confirmed that the Logic Group acquisition has been finalised.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "General News UK: npower: Barclaycard Freedom Scheme Customers to Receive Boost from npower". © 2010 Newsdesk AB. 15 March 2010. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Access Credit Card - 1966-72". www.accesscreditcard.info.
  3. ^ "1963: American Express comes to Britain". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Bank Americard to Get A New Name: Visa". www.nytimes.com. 11 September 1976. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  5. ^ Tew, Imogen. "After 30 years, why has Barclaycard cut my credit to £250?". The Times.
  6. ^ "Barclaycard defends decision to cut customers' credit limits by 95 per cent". CityAM. 20 April 2021.
  7. ^ Brignall, Miles (26 April 2021). "Barclaycard slashed my £6,500 credit limit to £250". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  8. ^ Thu, 24 Jul 2003 (24 July 2003). "Barclays picks EHS for £5m Providian job | Archive". Marketing Week. Retrieved 24 September 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ "Business | Barclays sells sub-prime business". BBC News. 5 April 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  10. ^ "Barclays to buy Egg credit card | Business | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. Reuters. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  11. ^ "BBC News - Egg credit cards bought by Barclays bank". Bbc.co.uk. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  12. ^ Bigelow, Bruce (4 June 2012). "Barclaycard Acquires Social Couponing Startup Analog Analytics". www.xconomy.com. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  13. ^ Kamanec, Kara. "Barclays Group PLC Member, Barclaycard, Purchases Analog Analytics". www.dailydealmedia.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  14. ^ "Barclaycard to acquire payment and loyalty specialist The Logic Group". Archived from the original on 17 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Barclaycard to acquire The Logic Group".
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