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Barclaycard is a global Credit (finance) provider (credit cards and loans) owned by Barclays plc in the United Kingdom. The Barclaycard was the first credit card introduced in the UK, coming into service in 1966. It enjoyed a monopoly until the introduction of the Access (credit card) card in 1972.

Barclaycard later became part of the VISA (credit card) network. Nowadays, Barclays offers both MasterCard and VISA versions. Barclaycard claims it is Europe's leading issuer of credit cards with 11 million in circulation. Barclaycard's main offices are in Northampton, along with several floors of the One Churchill Place building in Canary Wharf, where Barclays plc main business is based.

Barclaycard was also the main sponsor of The Premier League (from 2001–2004) until Barclays plc itself took over at the start of the FA Premier League 2004-05.

Barclaycard UK Barclaycard has 19.2 million customers in the UK, issuing one in three UK credit cards. It is currently the leading UK credit card issuer.

History of Barclaycard UK

• 1966 — Barclaycard is launched - the UK's first credit card
• 1977 — Barclaycard Business is introduced; Barclaycard becomes a founder member of the international VISA system
• 1982 — Barclays Premier Card introduced
• 1986 — Barclaycard launches first loyalty scheme
• 1990 — Barclaycard MasterCard launched
• 1995 — Barclaycard launches Barclaycard Gold and Barclaycard Sense cards; Barclaycard is the first credit card company to go onto the Internet with Barclaycard Netlink
• 1997 — Barclaycard is the first UK credit company to allow bills to be paid over the internet
• 1999 — Barclaycard launches Platinum card
• 2001 — Barclaycard announce three-year sponsorship of FA Premiership; Barclaycard sponsors the Young People's Trust for the Environment - designed to promote environmental education to UK school children.
• 2007 - Barclaycard launches 3 new products to its range of credit cards; Barclaycard OnePulse, Barclaycard Football and Barclaycard Breathe.

The Barclaycard Commercials In the late 80s and early 90s, Rowan Atkinson starred in a series of Barclaycard adverts. The first advert involved Richard Latham entering HQ to be told about his next mission. He is given a Barclaycard. The advert ends with Richard coming out of a sentry box with an oblivious sentry guard.

In the advert following, Richard is accompanied by a protege called Bough. Bough is the person that approves of Baclaycard and tells Richard of its benefits, much to Richard's disagreement. In the adverts, Richard burns the end of a rug, breaks a vase for a wedding present (and disturbs the photo of the wedding) and, the well-known advert, confusing a head honcho from MI5 for a plumber at a crime scene (for more information, or to see the advert above, go to www.tvwhirl.co.uk).

The other well-known thing about the advert is the theme tune. This advert was the basis for Johnny English, which also starred Rowan Atkinson (although he was changed from Richard Latham to Johnny English).

Barclaycard International Barclaycard operates in over 60 countries and has circa 1 million customers outside the UK. Barclaycard International claims that to date 1.8 million cards have been issued and that over 35,000 transactions are processed daily.

History of Barclaycard International

• 1991 — Launch in Germany
• 1997 — Dollar Card launch
• 1998 — Launch in France
• 1999 — Launch in Spain and Greece
• 2001 — Barclaycard launches in Botswana
• 2002 — Barclaycard launched in Italy
• 2003 — A collaborative credit card agreement with Standard Bank in South Africa is launched
• 2004 — Ireland, Portugal and Egypt Launch; Acquires US credit card issuer Juniper Financial Corporation
• 2007 - Irish portfolio sold to Bank of Scotland (Ireland)
• 2007 — Launch in India

Providian In 2002 Barclaycard took over the United Kingdom wing of the American Company Providian National Bank when it was sold off due to financial irregularities of its American parent company. Providian's former base in Crawley (West Sussex) is now fully part of the Barclaycard group, mainly catering for the very lower end of the credit card market. This targeting of the less affluent has created a lot of controversy as invariably the people targeted have existing financial problems.

Other Elements of Barclaycard In addition to Barclaycard UK and Barclaycard International, there is also Barclaycard Business UK (Merchant Acquiring, Corporate Issuing and Partnership Issuing). Barclaycard Business were formerly known as Barclaycard Merchant Services (BMS). As a Merchant Acquirer they enjoy around 38% of the UK Acquiring Business. They offer a number of channels including internet payments (ePDQ) and small merchant bank-owned terminals (PDQ Terminals) normally provided by Ingenico (formally Fortronic).

Barclaycard have now teamed up with London's Transport for London to combine a credit card with an Oyster card - called OnePulse. The new card is due to be launched in the Autumn of 2007.

Sponsorship Barclaycard replaced Carling as sponsors of England Premier League in 2001, an association which lasted 2004 before Barclays plc took over.

Trivia In various elements of the British Army, a method of entry with a shotgun is referred to as a "Barclaycard entry", due to the 1980's British advertising campaign that "a barclaycard can get you anywhere"

See also

• Barclays plc
• Credit card
• VISA (credit card)
• MasterCard

External links

• Barclaycard UK
• Barclaycard OnePulse
• Barclaycard Football
• Barclaycard Breathe
• Barclaycard Business UK
• Barclaycard Germany
• Barclaycard Italy
• Barclaycard Spain
• Barclaycard Portugal
• Barclaycard Greece
• Barclaycard India

Credit Cards, Personal Loans and Insurance - Barclaycard
Offers a wide range of credit cards, personal loans and insurance from Barclaycard. Also find information on The Barclaycard Range

Browse Credit Cards - Barclaycard
Browse a list of all the Barclaycard credit cards offering you a competitive rate, or find the right credit card for you

Barclaycard Global Home
Barclaycard, Business ... Learn more about Barclaycard our company, our history and our community work.

About Barclaycard
Barclaycard, Business ... In 1966, Barclaycard launched in the UK with just over one million cardholders.

Barclaycard Account Services
Not registered yet? Benefits include: Make payments to your Barclaycard; See your statements; Change your limit; Update your personal details; Your online service is New & Improved ...

Barclaycard Application Form
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Barclaycard Students
Thinking about borrowing? Tips for selecting the right product for your needs. Find out more

Barclaycard Business - Homepage
Information and application facility for a company charge card or credit card account.

Barclaycard Business - Accepting cards
Barclaycard Business card processing services. Accept cards in person, by phone, mail and Internet, and internationally

Personal Banking - Barclays Personal Banking
Features Barclaycard and an easy to use Internet banking service. All mainstream banking services.