Barclays Group PLC this week rolled out Barclaycard Freedom, a broad-based, merchant-funded rewards program for the United Kingdom-based issuer’s 8 million Barclaycard credit card customers. Through the initiative, the cardholders can earn rewards for purchases at participating retail outlets throughout the UK.
Cardholders automatically are enrolled at no extra cost and may earn 1% of the purchase price in “Reward Money” at participating retailers. Customers’ accumulated rewards balances appear on participating merchants’ checkout screens before completion of a sale, enabling customers to opt to immediately use their accumulated rewards toward the purchase. Reward Money balances also are included on customers’ receipts at participating merchants.
Participating merchants so far include jewelry store Goldsmith’s, L.A. Fitness, Just Tyres, Nationwide Autocentres, Yo! Sushi UK Ltd. and Pizza Express. Shell Holdings (UK) Ltd.’s Shell petroleum stores also are participating, although cardholders only earn 0.05% of the purchase price as a reward.
Merchants also may offer additional rewards through short-term promotions. For example, Nationwide Autocentres is offering a discount of £10 (US$15.27 or 11.18 euros) for purchases over £100 through August.
France-based loyalty marketing company Welcome Real-time S.A. provides the software for Barclaycard Freedom. Retailers can integrate the software into retailers’ point-of-sale devices “regardless of the payment application or infrastructure being used,” the firm says. Welcome Real-time, established in 1996, has developed similar merchant-funded rewards in other European countries, including Greece and Croatia, and says it has relationships with some 30,000 international retailers.
Sarah Newman, Barclaycard Freedom managing director, said in a statement that the card issuer’s goal with the loyalty program is to attract retailers of all sizes. “To achieve this, we needed a technology platform that would be simple for retailers to integrate with their existing point of sale devices...and hassle-free for our cardholders,” she said.
