Barclaycard Freedom scheme customers to receive boost from npower

Barclaycard Freedom customers are being provided with the chance to boost their accounts by up to £160 of Reward Money in a year, thanks to npower's new reward offer launch.

The reward, the first in the scheme to be paid regardless of the amount the customer spends on their card, is recorded in £s not points, and can be spent by customers immediately with tens of thousands of participating retailers across the UK.

Barclaycard Freedom, which launches in March, offers the concept of a rewards programme (http://www.barclaycard.co.uk/freedom/earn-and-redeem.html ) to many small and medium retailers for the first time. In addition to encompassing household names, including npower, over 30,000 retail outlets have been invited to be part of the scheme at launch. On average there will be 200 retailers within a five mile radius of where a Barclaycard cardholder lives and many more retailers are expected to join in the coming months.

Celebrating the partnership, npower is also doubling its sign-up incentive to £60* of Reward Money for Barclaycard Freedom (http://www.barclaycard.co.uk/freedom/index.html ) customers transferring their gas and electricity to npower before May 17th 2010. Along with the £100 annual loyalty payment for both new and existing npower customers paying by monthly direct debit for both fuels, Barclaycard Freedom holders could earn enough in a year to buy a meal out for the entire family, special treat for someone or have a shopping spree online, simply by choosing npower as their gas and electricity supplier.

Giuseppe Di Vita, Managing Director of npower Retail Markets, commented: "Our customers have told us that they would like more freedom of choice in the way that they are rewarded for joining and staying with npower. Participating in the Barclaycard Freedom scheme (http://www.barclaycard.co.uk/freedom/index.html ) enables us to give our customers the choice of up to 30,000 retailers to redeem their Reward Money. Our customers will benefit from a straightforward, simple and transparent way to get more value for their money."

Sarah Newman, Managing Director of Barclaycard Freedom, commented: "Barclaycard Freedom incorporates all of the best elements of a rewards scheme with no vouchers or coupons to collect and no points to calculate - the rewards are quite simply in pounds and pence. Offers like npower’s - the first of its kind in the Barclaycard Freedom scheme - give customers a new way that they can build up their reward balance. We hope that customers enjoy spending their Reward Money."

Notes to editors:
* Standard incentive offer for Barclaycard Freedom customers signing up to npower for both electricity and gas is £30 (£15 per fuel). Offer has been doubled to £60 (£30 per fuel) for a limited period from 17 March - 17 May 2010.

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About Barclaycard (http://www.barclaycard.co.uk/ )
Barclaycard, part of Barclays Global Retail Banking division, is a leading global payment business which helps consumers, retailers and businesses to make and accept payments flexibly, and to access short-term credit when needed.

The company is one of the pioneers of new forms of payments and is at the forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for today and cutting edge forms of payment for the future. It also issues charge and credit cards (http://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal-home/cards/index.html ) to corporate customers and the UK Government. Barclaycard partners with a wide range of organisations across the globe to offer their customers or members payment options and credit.

In addition to the UK, Barclaycard operates in the United States, Europe, Africa and the Middle and Far East.

Key facts published in February 2010;
number of UK customers: 10.4m
number of international customers: 10.8m
number of retailer/merchant relationships: 87,000

About npower
npower has 6.6 million residential gas and electricity accounts throughout the UK. npower is a market leader in renewable energy. npower juice matches green energy primarily from off-shore wind farms for juice customers at no extra cost. Join the energy industry discussion on npower's interactive debating website the brighter energy debate where you can post your questions, views and comments

For further media information, please contact:
Andrew Bond
Barclaycard Press Office
Barclaycard
1234 Pavilion Drive
Northampton
NN4 7SG
01604 251229
www.barclaycard.co.uk