Barclaycard reviews Freedom reward scheme
Barclaycard is reviewing its Freedom loyalty programme in a move that could see the scheme scrapped after just two years.
It is halting its current Freedom programme and preparing to launch new reward programmes later this year. Cardholders will no longer be able to earn reward money with the Barclaycard Freedom scheme from 21 June 2012. They will have until 26 July to redeem any reward money they have accrued. Any unredeemed reward money at this point will be credited to cardholders’ Barclaycard accounts.
Barclaycard plans to reveal further details of the new schemes in the coming months but says that they will include “tailored and valuable” offers from thousands of retailers in the UK and abroad. It also says that cardholders will be able to earn rewards on all money spent using Barclaycard.
The credit card provider has emailed customers to tell them about the changes and in it, Paul McWeeney, head of consumer sales and service, says: “We’ve been thinking about how we can bring you the best of both worlds of Barclaycard Freedom … The changes we are making are part of our ongoing commitment to making our customers’ relationship with Barclaycard even more valuable and rewarding.”
It is not known whether the Freedom brand will be replaced, or whether existing retail partners will continue to be involved.
Freedom was introduced in March 2010 in an effort to reward customers’ loyalty in pounds, not points. Customers could earn 1% of the value of purchases at participating outlets and could see tier reward balance on chip and pin devices in store as well as redeem money off at the till.
Launch partners included Shell, Npower, Pizza Express, LA Fitness and Yo! Sushi as well as small, independent retailers.
Last summer, a year after launch, Barclaycard claimed that 1.3 million of its 11.2 million UK cardholders were using Freedom to earn reward money.
