Barclaycard relaunches Freedom rewards

Barclaycard is relaunching its Freedom rewards programme with a new credit card that allows cardholders to collect points when they spend in any store.

Barclaycard
Barclaycard relaunches Freedom Rewards

Customers using the card will earn loyalty points every time they use the the Freedom Rewards card at any retail outlet. Customers can also collect double points on spend at any UK supermarket and petrol forecourts.

Because customers can earn points wherever they shop, it also offers the added benefit of “double dipping” by using a second loyalty card such as Tesco’s Clubcard at the same time to earn benefits concurrently.

The payment services provider claims the new scheme has the “broadest” range of high street reward partners of any other reward card in the market. Points can be redeemed at 70 participating retailers and entertainment partners including Marks & Spencer, Amazon and Odeon.

The previous Freedom loyalty scheme was scrapped earlier this year after just over two years. It offered opportunities to earn reward cash when customers used their credit card with 300 participating retailers but attracted criticism that not all spend on the cards was eligible.

Barclaycard believes that partnering with fewer larger national retailers and entertainment brands offers better value rewards.

Just one million of Barclaycard’s 23 million cardholders signed up to Freedom in its first year.

Katherine Whitton, marketing director at Barclaycard, told Marketing Week that the average family using the Freedom Rewards card for all household spend would earn enough points to redeem a £5 reward every month in recognition of the fact that “there’s nothing worse than waiting a month to earn a reward”.

She says: “This card rewards you irrespective of where you shop. It’s for the average family that doesn’t want to change how they shop. These aren’t niche products but take centre stage – we are market leaders and would hope that our reward cards would become market leading.”

Meanwhile, Barclaycard has also launched a Cashback card (see box) with the aim of rewarding ongoing loyalty by offering an increased cashback rate for one month every year. It is designed to bring in new customers who haven’t thought Barclaycard is relevant to them previously.

A “significant” marketing campaign highlighting ways to maximise the benefits of both cards will roll out from October. Both cards are contactless ready and will be available on Barclaycard’s Paytag mobile payment service.

Sainsbury’s Bank recently introduced two credit cards in partnership with Nectar offering loyalty rewards including points and cashback for purchases at Sainsbury’s and partner retailers.

Read Rosie Baker’s viewpoint on the relaunch here.

Cashback card
2% cashback on biggest five purchases each month
“welcome bonus” of 6% cashback for three months
0.5% cashback on everything else
customers must make at least 15 purchases a month
annual thank you bonus increasing cashback rate
£24 annual fee
Freedom Rewards card
points for all purchases in all stores
70 reward partners

 

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