Barclays UK has announced the launch of a new digital ‘Rewards Wallet’ that rewards customers for their loyalty to the bank. According to the announcement, for a fee of £3 ($4.4) per month customers will receive fixed cash rewards and will receive a £7 ($10.30) monthly cash reward paid into their digital Rewards Wallet, meaning each customer nets £4 ($5.90) per month.
Catherine McGrath, managing director, personal banking, Barclays commented on the announcement by saying,
“The more you bank with us, the more cash you get to use as you choose. With rewards on savings and other Barclays products launching soon, customers can be confident we’ll continue to give their monthly earnings a welcome boost.”
According to Barclays, the new offering is available to current account holders who deposit at least £800 ($1,177) into their account each month, have two direct debits set up and are signed up to online banking or the Barclays mobile banking application.
To date the UK rewards landscape has been relatively lean on reward programs offered by the leading retail banks in the country however this move by Barclays shows that the rewards space may represent a new front in the growing completion battle between many of the UK retail banks. However with interchange caps looming, how far rewards can be stretched is yet to be seen.
For more information on the US debit rewards space see Mercator Advisory Group Research Report, Top 50 U.S. Retail Banks and Credit Unions’ Debit Rewards and Loyalty Programs: 2014 Annual Review released in April 2015.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, Global Payments Advisory Service at
Mercator Advisory Group
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