Barclaycard launches Freedom rewards scheme

Britain's biggest credit card company, Barclaycard , today launched a rewards scheme that will allow 8 million customers to earn up to £10 for every £1,000 they spend at participating retailers. Under the Freedom scheme, Barclaycard cardholders will be able to earn "Reward Money" at 30,000 retail outlets across the UK, including Shell petrol stations and Pizza Express restaurants, as well as many smaller retailers. In most participating outlets payments will equal 1% of a customer's spend (0.5% at Shell petrol stations), and there will be other promotions and discounts. Reward Money is recorded in pounds and pence with no vouchers to save or points to calculate, and there is no need to register or receive a new card, a spokesman said. "Barclaycard cardholders will be rewarded for simply using their card to make a purchase," he added. Cardholders buying an item at a retailer associated with the scheme will see the value of their Reward Money appear on the card machine's screen before they enter their pin number to pay. They will then be able to put some or all of their Reward Money towards that transaction, or continue to save for a future purchase. In addition to Shell and Pizza Express, other firms signed up to the scheme include electricity and gas supplier npower, LA Fitness, restaurant chains Yo! Sushi and Gourmet Burger Kitchen, online gift retailer Firebox.com, jewellers Goldsmiths and F Hinds, MOT and car servicing firm Nationwide Autocentre, the Flight Centre, wine merchant Balls Brothers, driving school BSM, and Just Tyres. Sarah Newman, managing director of Barclaycard Freedom, said: "The beauty of the scheme lies in the fact that Reward Money can be redeemed on purchases in most retailers, and with around 30,000 retail outlets participating from today, the options to redeem are endless." Peter Harrison, credit card expert at price comparison site moneysupermarket.com , said the scheme was an "innovative move". He added: "Barclaycard has really set a benchmark for the rest of the credit card market to follow. Over the last few years we have seen the number of reward products reduced or [the] value of rewards slashed on many cards. It is the ease with which you can earn and redeem Reward Money on this scheme which makes it particularly attractive to many customers." However, he said the scheme was only beneficial to customers who paid off their balance in full each month, otherwise the interest they accrued would offset the reward element, and that consumers who did not regularly shop with retailers signed up for the scheme may be better off with a wider reward scheme.