Barclaycard Ring credit card – crowdsourced for consumer ease

Welcome to the age of the crowdsourced credit card. Bankrate reports that Barclaycard Ring is now available to consumers. The credit card is closely tied to an online community that chose the card’s design, what the rates should be and how the card is marketed.

Barclaycard Ring, by the numbers

The Barclaycard Ring features an 8 percent interest rate on all balances, with no balance transfer fees or annual maintenance fee. Barclaycard customers can also reap the benefits of sharing in company profits via a crowd-sourced Giveback program, where charitable donations can also be made. This provides card holders with tax deduction opportunities, although accounts must be kept in good standing to be eligible for the Giveback program.

Via the Barclaycard Ring’s social media platform, cardholders can also exchange ideas about personal finance and give feedback to the card company.

[Need payday loans?]

Short, sweet terms

Adding to the sense of economy, the credit card literature included with the Barclaycard Ring is about 1,000 words, far shorter than the industry average of 7,215, according to a Barclaycard press statement.

Rounding out the numbers are the following fees: $1 is charged for each cash advance; foreign transaction fees total 1 percent; and late or returned payments penalize the customer up to $25 per occurrence, although a three-day grace period is available.

Must have a 680 FICO

In order to be eligible for a Barclaycard Ring credit card, consumers must have a FICO credit score of 680 or higher. Income and total debt are taken into account.

“As a way of managing the safety and soundness for consumers, credit is not granted when high debt compared to income is present,” states the Barclaycard Ring credit card’s online application form.

Consumers with a history of delinquent payments of more than 30 days, or adverse credit report incidents such as bankruptcy, are also generally not accepted for a Barclaycard Ring credit card, according to the consumer credit issuer.

The power of community

Periodically, Barclaycard Ring credit card holders will have the opportunity to vote on a variety of pertinent topics, such as the cost of program fees; changing annual percentage rates; whether customer service should be outsourced; how Giveback proceeds should be shared; and other marketing and website enhancement ideas.

During the life of a consumer’s Barclaycard Ring credit card account, cardholders have access to a community manager service that makes all aspects of the Barclaycard experience clear and easy to understand. This includes a profit-loss statement for those who own a piece of the action through the Giveback program.

How Barclaycard Ring works

Sources

Bankrate

Barclaycard Ring

New York Times