Wilmington-based Barclaycard US, announced what it says is the first “social credit card” designed to use community crowdsourcing. The term “crowdsourcing” in this case is used to describe plans to give cardholders input in determining features of the product carrying an interest rate that is among the lowest offered by the large credit card companies.
The card had previously been tested by some customers in an “Alpha” test.
“We have learned a great deal from our first cardmembers and are thrilled to be able to open up the Barclaycard Ring community to see how the product will begin to evolve based on the needs and collective input of our customers,” said Paul Wilmore, managing director-Consumer Markets. “Offering our cardmembers simple, transparent terms as well as the opportunity to help decide how this card can best work for them is all part of our vision to revolutionize the credit card business.”
The card has the following features:
– An 8 percent interest rate for all balances (not 7.99 percent).
– No annual fees.
– No balance transfer fees, enabling revolving credit card holders to transfer balances from higher interest-rate reward cards and still earn points.
– Giveback, allowing community members an opportunity to share in the profit generated from their collective decisions.
– A simplified summary of the standard cardmember agreement.
The Barclaycard Ring community provides a forum where cardmembers can exchange ideas, share knowledge and provide direct feedback to Barclaycard US to help determine future product features. Through weekly online polls, the current community has already provided input on topics ranging from product feature preferences to marketing programs.
“We know that interest rates are still very much top of mind among our cardmembers as one of the most important considerations when choosing a credit card and one of the most important topics they want to have a voice about — along with fees and rewards,” Wilmore said. “Yet our community has also told us that it wants a say in the direction of the card program in other areas such as servicing and how the GiveBack is administered, which allows the community to share in the program’s profitability. We have a highly engaged group within the community and we expect this engagement to grow.”
In the future, the Barclaycard Ring community will have an opportunity to voice its opinions about specific product features and community functionality.
Barclaycard US has also developed a servicing website that simplifies the account management process for the cardholders.
Further information is available at http://www.barclaycardring.com. Information is available on Facebook at facebook.com/BarclaycardRing or at Twitter@BarclaycardRing.
Headquartered in Wilmington, Del., Barclaycard employs 1,300 associates.
