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United Kingdom-based card issuer Barclaycard on Saturday began its first advertising campaign designed to promote contactless payments, a Barclaycard spokesperson tells CardLine Global. "The campaign will run on TV, digital and print [media] until the end of November," the spokesperson says. The ad campaign features a narrative about a consumer who, faced with a difficult journey home, uses a contactless card to buy bananas at a supermarket. Barclaycard is running 90-, 60- and 30-second ad spots. The campaign comes as Barclaycard works to increase the number of contactless cards it issues. "We absolutely expect to issue 1 million contactless cards by the end of the year," the spokesperson says. Barclaycard has issued "hundreds of thousands [of contactless cards] already," the spokesperson says without providing an exact figure. In September, Barclaycard said it has issued about 100,000 contactless cards, according to CardLine Global sister publication Cards&Payments (CardLine Global, 9 Sept.). At the time, Barclaycard promised a renewed push for contactless payments, an effort that would include a six-figure investment. Most of the growth likely will come from the conversion of magnetic stripe cards carrying the Goldfish brand to Barclaycard-branded chip cards. Barclaycard parent Barclays PLC in February bought Goldfish from United States-based Discover Financial Service. In September, Barclaycard said it would switch those cards to chip cards.
