In an article titled "Barclaycard U.S. Taking Baby Steps into Public Eye" in today's American Banker, Maria Aspan writes about BarclayCard's US unit - and how it's trying to make US consumers aware of its name "in a really subtle way".

In the UK, Barclays has posted a video demonstrating the use of its contactless cards at point of sale. Barclays says it's "the first bank to issue contactless debit cards as standard to the majority of current account customers."

US Airways, Barclaycard and MasterCard have announced a new suite of Dividend Miles Select benefits for US Airways Premier World MasterCard that enable award travel with fewer miles.

The results of a recent survey by MasterCard "demonstrated the heightened importance of travel rewards value in the current economy. More than half of surveyed Americans (51 percent) agree that the current economy has made them more conscious of the value and benefits of rewards credit cards, such as an airline co-brand card. Visiting family and friends is also now the most appealing vacation for the majority of travelers (54 percent) - particularly for college graduates, parents and married adults." READ MORE

Barclaycard has announced that it plans to introduce a retailer rewards scheme in partnership with Welcome Real-time "that will enable Barclaycard customers to benefit from a retailer rewards scheme that is expected to encompass retailers ranging from sole traders to major high street names." READ MORE

Barclaycard Payment Acceptance in the UK says that "British shoppers are still willing to splash the cash on their loved ones at Valentine’s. Flowers remain a favourite choice for present giving, with purchases from florists on the 14 February up 168.8 per cent on the week before. Jewellery purchases remain popular, with purchases on Valentine’s Day showing a very strong uplift on the previous week’s sales, an increase of 67 per cent from Saturday 7 February to Saturday 14 February. Meanwhile, spending in restaurants experienced a 20 per cent uplift on the previous week." READ MORE

In the UK, Barclays has announced that its customers will "soon be able to pay their way with the wave of a card as the bank is set to be the first in the UK to roll-out contactless VISA debit cards to its customers. From March, most Barclays debit cards that are issued or reissued will have contactless technology built in as standard. More than three million customers are expected to be using contactless debit cards by the end of the year." READ MORE

Barclaycard, the credit card division of Barclays PLC, has announced that it is expanding its global operations by opening a new administrative office in Long Island City, New York. The company says it plans to hire more than 200 employees for the new location within the next 12 months and that the new office will primarily focus on credit risk with additional corporate finance and market analytics functions. It will support Barclaycard’s operations globally including its U.S. business headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. READ MORE

Over on the Digital Money Forum blog, Dave Birch writes about a student In London who spends a whole day using just his Barclays OnePulse card - and then comes home to find his wallet (with his cash) on the kitchen table. Some believe that, in a few years, he wouldn't even need his card - just his ever-present mobile phone!

Jo Best writes for Silicon.com about Barclays efforts in contactless cards in the UK - quoting the head of contactless card development as saying they'll have over a million contactless cards in the market soon. Over 5 million contactless cards in total are expected to have been issued in the UK by the end of this year. Contactless POS rollouts are continuing - moving beyond just the London area.

Dave Birch's latest Digital Money Forum podcast features an interview with James McDonald, head of Contactless Payments for Barclays Business in the UK. His focus in 2008 is to roll out contactless payments nationally, and in this podcast McDonald talks about the state of the current contactless roll out in London and where the business might move in the future. If you're interested in the "on the ground" perspective regarding contactless, be sure to find 30 minutes for a listen. Highly Recommended!

Phillip W. Steitz has been appointed to the position of Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Barclaycard US, the credit card business of Barclays PLC in the United States. Mr. Steitz most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for American Express, where he oversaw global technology standards and strategy. READ MORE

Gemalto has announced that over one million Barclays Bank customers in the UK are using its cryptographic smart card reader, called PINsentry by Barclays, to provide stronger authentication for online banking. According to Gemalto, "the bank started deploying its strong authentication program in July 2007 and not one PINsentry online customer has suffered fraud since then. User feedback has proven extremely positive and Barclays observed that customer acceptance was higher than anticipated by 30 percent." READ MORE

In May, L.L.Bean announced it was terminating its card issuing relationship with Bank of America. Today, L.L.Bean and Barclays announced the launch of the new L.L.Bean Visa card, which will be available tomorrow, July 1. According to the two companies, "the card rewards loyal customers with coupon dollars good toward L.L.Bean merchandise every time they use the card, plus a wealth of new and improved benefits to make the card even more rewarding than before." As part of the deal, Barclays earlier this month opened a new call center in Maine. READ MORE

In the UK, Barclaycard and InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) have announced the launch of the Priority Club Rewards Visa credit card. READ MORE

Barclaycard has announced plans to issue over one million contactless cards this year across the UK. Barclaycard began issuing contactless enabled cards in London in September 2007 with the launch of Barclaycard OnePulse, the 3-in-1 card featuring Oyster, credit and contactless payment functions.

In the UK, EAT, Commidea Ltd and Barclaycard Business have announced that EAT, a sandwich, soup and coffee shop, has become the first retailer in the UK to introduce a fully integrated contactless payment system. Using Commidea’s Ocius Chip & PIN solution with contactless technology, Eat will now be able to process both Visa (Paywave) and MasterCard (Paypass) contactless transactions for its customers using Barclaycard Business as their merchant acquirer.

Barclaycard Business has launched Prepaid Solutions, a product it says "will enable retailers to offer gift cards and other stored value solutions to their customers in a more cost effective and convenient way, with the ultimate aim of increased sales and enhanced customer loyalty. The nationwide launch today follows the completion of a successful three month pilot of a Gift Card with Autonomy, a ladies tailoring and special occasion clothes chain with 27 stores nationwide."

Ameriprise Financial has announced it will be issuing a suite of branded payment cards with MasterCard Worldwide. The suite includes the Ameriprise World Elite MasterCard, Ameriprise World MasterCard and Ameriprise MasterCard cards as well as the Ameriprise Bank Debit MasterCard.

Barclaycard Business in the UK has announced the launch of Barclaycard Business Sustain, a carbon-offset corporate charge card that will enable customers to offset carbon emissions associated with air travel.

In an article titled 'Barclays becomes major credit card player', Leslie A. Poppas writes for the Wilmington News Journal about Barclay's US credit card business. "While employment at other credit card issuers in the area has decreased, employment at Barclays has tripled since the London bank bought Juniper for $293 million in December 2004. This month, Barclays hired its 1,000th Delaware employee and now employs 1,012 people in the state..."

In an article titled 'New card is small change", Jill Papworth reports for The Guardian about Barclaycard's new OnePulse "touch and pay" card that also includes Oyster capability for paying on Transport for London's services. She writes "the all-in-one card will allow Londoners to buy newspapers and coffee, then jump on the tube without ever using cash."

In a longer article titled "The plastic replacement for your loose change", James Charles writes for The Times about the new contactless technology. He notes that "by the end of next year Apacs, the UK payments association, expects five million contactless cards to have been issued in the UK."

BJ's Wholesale Club has announced that it has partnered with Barclays to launch the BJ's Visa Card. The two companies say the "new credit card offers cardholders a faster, more consumer-friendly way to earn BJ's Bucks, and introduces a number of new, convenient card features that provide additional value to qualified BJ's Members." The card includes Visa's payWave contactless technology.

Barclays has announced that its U.S. credit card business has passed the $5 billion mark in credit card receivables, calling itself "the fastest growing major credit card issuer in the United States."

In the UK, Barclaycard has announced "the new look and name of its unique card which will combine Oyster, credit and contactless functionalities. The new three-in-one card will be called Barclaycard OnePulse and is on track to be launched across London this September. Barclaycard OnePulse will be the only UK credit card that combines the ease and convenience of Oyster with the security and flexibility of Barclaycard and new contactless technology."

To mark the 20th anniversary of the debit card in the UK this past weekend, APACS has published a report titled "20 Years of the Debit Card" (PDF) reflecting on its history. The report is subtitled "Charting the rise of our favourite way to pay." APACS predicts that by 2011 personal spending on debit cards in the UK will have overtaken cash.

Barclaycard in the UK is celebrating the upcoming 10th anniversary of its Connect Card, the UK's first debit card. According to Barclays, "June 3rd, 1987 was the day that Barclays revolutionised the nation’s spending habits by putting the UK’s first debit card, the Barclays Connect card, into the purses and wallets of people up and down the country. The new cards caught on immediately and just nine months after the launch Barclays issued its millionth card."

Miles Brignall reports for The Guardian that Barclaycard in the UK is considering imposing fees on cardholders who don't use their Barclaycards "enough". Lloyds TSB began a similar practice earlier this year.

Gemalto has announced that it is providing Barclays Bank with a tailor-made product supporting Barclays project to offer stronger authentication for online banking customers. According to the company, its solution "includes the authentication devices and a full service encompassing design of the readers, fulfillment and distribution to the Barclays customer. In addition, Gemalto produced a unique looking device, customised with the bank’s visual corporate identity. The contract calls for the delivery of over half a million units by the end of this year and includes options for additional deliveries into 2008." More information, including photos of the device, are available at the Barclays web site.

Tash Shifrin reports for Computerworld UK that "Barclays bank is sending out handheld chip and PIN card readers to more than half a million online banking customers in a bid to prevent fraud."

Dave Friedlos of Computing provides some background on the recently announced Oyster-enabled Barclaycard.