About Barclaycard

1966. A converted shoe factory in the centre of Northampton. Seven people are given just six months to establish an innovative new business. Rising to the challenge, they create Barclaycard – the UK’s first credit card company.

More than one million people signed up for a Barclaycard before its launch and it remained the only credit card in Britain until 1971. Today, we’re a leading multi-brand credit card, consumer lending and acquiring business.

Not only are we the current UK market leader with 9.6 million UK card customers. We also have an increasing international presence. In fact, our impact globally has been immense. We’re active in over 20 countries including Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Greece, Italy, Portugal, India, the United Arab Emirates and Africa, with our largest customer bases internationally in Germany, South Africa and the US. There are now around 11 million Barclaycards in issue around the world.

Strong partnerships with familiar brands have fuelled our growth. We provide credit card management and support to household names like Sky, Thomas Cook, House of Fraser and Argos. What’s more, we issue credit and charge cards to corporate customers and the UK government.