Barclays buys Goldfish reports Credit Card Genie

Goldfish has now exited the UK credit card market

[ClickPress, Tue Feb 19 2008] Goldfish has now exited the UK credit card market less than two weeks after fellow US credit company Egg banned 161,000 of its customers from running up further credit bills.

Goldfish brand owners Discover Financial Services (previously a part of Morgan Stanley) sale of the business to Barclays serves to highlight the current condition of the UK credit market, and the difficulties credit companies are seeing in turning over a profit.

Barclays will pay £35 million for the Goldfish client base, who's outstanding balances amount to £2 billion.

Barclays plans to incorporate Goldfish into Barclaycard, its current international credit card operation of 17 million customers worldwide, however it has not yet been decided whether it will retain the Goldfish brand.
Notes to editors

Credit Card Genie allows users to compare credit cards online, and is part of Genie Group.

Genie Group Ltd is a leading independent provider of internet comparison shopping services in the UK, and was set up in 2004 by Philip Wilkinson (co-founder of Kelkoo UK). Genie Group's unique selling point is 'the Genie', which makes personal recommendations to internet shoppers based on ground-breaking, intelligent technology. This gives Genie Group the ability to provide an enjoyable and satisfying internet shopping experience, and deliver an unmatched quality of sales leads to our affiliate merchants. Genie Group launched its flagship broadband comparison service Broadband Genie in January 2005.

More information can be found at http://www.creditcardgenie.co.uk . Please direct all media enquiries to Stephanie Rogers. Interviews with Philip Wilkinson can be arranged on request.

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