Why is Barclaycard so special?

DonDino

Hi all!

I've been looking at the forum for quite some time, but this is my first post here.

My first question will be about Barclaycard. Whenever I use my Barclaycard to pay at a shop using the chip & pin machine, the screen shows 'Barclaycard Visa'. But when using any other debit or credit card, the screens simply show 'Visa Credit', 'Visa Debit' etc., they don't show the full brand of the card.

Why is Barclaycard the only one whose name shows on the machines? How come they're so 'special'?

agrinnall

They're not, in my view the product is fairly mediocre. I've no idea whether what you have observed is correct, but if it is my guess would be that the particular retailer uses Barclays to provide their merchant services and they recognise when one of their own cards is being used.

Goldiegirl

Many, many years ago, Barclaycard was the only Visa card. The rest of the banks were aligned woth a different credit card called 'Access' (which ended up as MasterCard)

Perhaps the machines recognise Barclaycard as the original.

EarthBoy

Goldiegirl wrote: »

The rest of the banks were aligned woth a different credit card called 'Access' (which ended up as MasterCard)

Not all of the rest, just most of them. TSB and Bank of Scotland also issued Visa cards, although they were very small players when compared to the big names.

I remember the first Yorkshire bank credit card was also Visa, although it was issued by them as an agent of Barclays. It was branded the "Yorkshire Bank Barclaycard". It was only in the late 80s that they issued Visa cards in their own right.

reclusive46

A card issuer can set the application name that shows on receipt and terminal.

simongregson

Capital one shows as Cap1 Visa. It is what is coded on the chip as the application name.

Goldiegirl

EarthBoy wrote: »

Not all of the rest, just most of them. TSB and Bank of Scotland also issued Visa cards, although they were very small players when compared to the big names.

.

I'm talking way, way back, to the 1960's, when Barclayscard was first introduced. I don't think TSB and BOS issued their credit cards until slightly later?

EarthBoy

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I'm talking way, way back, to the 1960's, when Barclayscard was first introduced. I don't think TSB and BOS issued their credit cards until slightly later?

You may be right. My personal experience of banks only starts in the late 70s.

Interestingly, this site tells us that the Access brand was actually older than the Visa brand. Visa was only founded in 1975. Prior to that, Barclaycard was just that.

http://www.accesscreditcard.info/History.asp

This sounds about right because I remember people talked about Barclaycard or Access, nobody used to say Visa card.

I miss the Access brand, it stood out and was instantly recognised everywhere. I loved my Access card lol.

TheGenerus1

Missus_Hyde

TheGenerus1 wrote: »

I so remember that!!!

Ben8282

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I'm talking way, way back, to the 1960's, when Barclayscard was first introduced. I don't think TSB and BOS issued their credit cards until slightly later?

I had an AA visa card issued by the Bank of Scotland in the mid 80's. I remember I chose this card to have something different because everybody else had Barclaycards.

But yes, Barclaycard was the original UK visa card or rather card with the visa colours. I don't think the word visa appeared on the original Barclaycards. It was Access and Barclaycard, not Access and Visa.


Looking at the Access cards above, can anybody remind me what the i symbol in the bottom corner of the cards is?