Black Card: Is it the New Black?
Recent TV spots and direct mail activity attest to Barclays’ renewed focus on marketing the Black Card ™ Visa. Earlier this year and prior to the new campaign, Credit Card Forum featured a review of seven prestigious credit cards. It had this to say about Black Card:
“Within the black credit cards niche, this one has already gained quite a bit of press, mostly bad. It’s issued by Barclays and has a $495 annual fee. It offers airport lounge access, some complimentary gifts and the usual benefits. The rewards program earns 1 point per dollar. All in all, this card is black in color, but it doesn’t even compare with the Platinum from Amex.”
But since the current campaign touts “the new Visa® Black Card,” we were curious to see how Barclays has updated the product.
Card manufacturing
Old Black: Desktop research uncovered blogs and editorial reviews stating the Black Card appeared to be plastic, although vague references to “carbon” material were found.
New Black: Current acquisition direct mail says the card is “made of Stainless Steel,sm”* and the product microsite features an animated card with call-outs to the black stainless steel front and carbon back. We dug a bit deeper into the terms and conditions where we learned: “Black Card credit cards are a black PVD-coated, stainless steel/carbon hybrid and are patent pending.“
Exclusivity
Old Black: Promotional copy boldly stated the Black Card is limited to only 1 percent of the population: “In fact, it is available to only 1% of U.S. Residents…”
New Black: Barclays has abandoned the “only 1%” explicit copy in its current Black Card promotion. Hopefully, they realize substance (benefits, perks, rewards) are more persuasive than declarations of exclusivity. Of course, this caveat may have served a combined objective of fostering exclusivity while helping them assuage declines and down-sells.
Look more closely at the terms and conditions, however, and see that Barclays has not totally abandoned the “1%” notion. The terms include this: “Limited Membership – Membership in Black Card is limited per credit card product to 1% of the U.S. population based on the 2010 Census. Membership is determined by account.”
Fees
Old Black: Barclays levied a deadly (i.e. response-depressing and totally uncompetitive) 3 percent foreign services transaction fee (FSTF).
New Black: The current Black Card promotion now touts acceptance in 170 countries with no FSTFs, so clearly Barclays made changes striving to be relevant to a target audience: international travelers with an abundance of no-FSTF products to choose from.
You can expect to see more hyperbole from Barclays related to Black Card. Unfortunately, it just can’t stack up against Amex Centurion, JPMC Palladium and other select premium credit cards.
And, to set the record straight, Black Card is not a Visa tier reserved for the ultra-rich – Visa’s high net worth offering remains heavily focused on Visa Signature. (Visa Infinite is marketed outside of the U.S.) Independently, Barclays has created a Black Card branded product – while protecting Black Card nomenclature and tag lines**– that appears to ride the rails of Visa Platinum… while souped-up with a set of benefits and perks supported by Barclays third-party partnership (Black Card LLC and ThinkTankHoldings).
Expect more from Black Card as Barclays markets within the premium card space. At the same time, keep your eye on Barclaycard Arrival ™ World MasterCard. It is award winning and highly rated by Consumer Reports for those prospects with an affluent level of spend.
*”Made of Stainless Steel” is service marked by Barclays.
**Black Card owns intellectual property worldwide, including but not limited to BLACK, BLACKCARD, BLACK CARD, BLACK CARD MAG, BLACK CARD BUSINESS, BLACK CARD CONCIERGE, BLACK CARD EXCLUSIVE REWARDS, BLACK CARD REPORT, THE WORLD AWAITS, FROM THE ORDINARY TO THE EXTRAORDINARY, HEAVY METAL, IT’S NOT JUST A CARD, IT’S A LIFESTYLE, MADE OF STAINLESS STEEL, MY BLACKCARD, MY BLACKCARD REWARDS, and JETSETTER, as well as close variants thereof.
