Barclaycard Ring MasterCard: The First Social Credit Card

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Max

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Barclaycard recently announced the introduction of the Barclaycard Ring MasterCard, what it calls “the first social credit card to be designed and built through the power of community crowdsourcing.” The new card will offer a low 8% interest rate, low fees, simple terms and the opportunity for cardholders to influence the card’s terms and policies. There are no balance transfer fees and there is currently no annual fee — though it’s possible the cardholder community may decide to implement one later. The late fee is a maximum of $25, the cash advance fee is $1 per transaction and it charges 1 percent of your transaction when the card is used in foreign countries.

Cardholders will see how the portfolio is performing through an online profit and loss statement. A “community manager” will facilitate the conversation among members about potential changes to the card’s terms or other actions the group can take to improve performance so that cardholders can maximize the amount it collects through the profit-sharing program known as Giveback (more on that in a second).

The group will actually vote on topics such as raising program fees, changing the annual percentage rate, whether to outsource customer service and how the Giveback is shared. The group will also weigh in on marketing ideas, merchant deals, Web site enhancements and other topics.

Using social media, the cardholder community will also provide a forum where members can exchange ideas about personal finance and provide direct feedback to Barclaycard to help determine new product features.

Barclaycard Ring is creating a Giveback program which it describes as a “profit-sharing feature.” It will be based on a transparent calculation — using the community’s actual revenue and expenses — which will be used to determine what will be shared with cardholders.

Your account needs to be in good standing at the time the Giveback is distributed. And you’ll also have the option of donating the Giveback to a charity — but you won’t be eligible for individual tax deductions.

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