WILMINGTON, Del. and HUDSON, Ohio, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Barclays Bank Delaware (formerly Juniper Bank) and Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. (NYSE:JAS) have teamed up to offer a new co-branded Platinum MasterCard. The new Jo-Ann Platinum MasterCard will be linked to the company's innovative Preferred Customer program so that loyal Jo-Ann shoppers can reap the rewards they have earned. This alliance is the first partnership between Jo-Ann Stores and Barclays.
Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. is the largest specialty retailer of fabrics and one of the largest specialty retailers of crafts, with over $1.8 billion in annual sales, more than 800 stores and over 20,000 employees. The Jo-Ann Platinum MasterCard will allow customers to earn up to 5% of their purchases toward creative cash(TM) every time they use their card.
Customers earn five points for every $1 spent at Jo-Ann stores or Joann.com and one point per $1 spent on all other purchases with the Jo-Ann Platinum MasterCard. Once a customer earns 1,000 points, she will receive a $10 creative cash(TM) card. For every 500 points earned above 1,000 points, customers will receive an additional $5 in creative cash(TM). After the customer's first purchase or balance transfer, she will receive a $10 creative cash(TM) card to begin saving on purchases. Customers will also be enrolled in Jo-Ann's Preferred Customer program to receive valuable coupons and sale notifications. There is an introductory APR on balance transfers of 0% for the first six billing cycles.
"Barclays is delighted to partner with Jo-Ann Stores to offer the best possible credit card to its valued customers," said Kevin Kleinschmidt, Managing Director, Business Development for Barclays. "We believe this will attract new customers to Jo-Ann Stores, in addition to rewarding the company's existing customers for their loyalty."
"We value our guests and are constantly searching for ways to improve and grow our customer relationships," said Kevin Brown, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Jo-Ann Stores. "Partnering with Barclays offers us an innovative program to inspire and reward creative enthusiasts."
Barclays has more than 40 existing card partnerships with U.S. travel, entertainment, consumer, automotive and educational institutions, including Barnes & Noble, West Marine, USAir, Travelocity, Harvard, UBS and many more.
About Jo-Ann Stores
Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. (http://www.joann.com/), the leading national fabric and craft retailer with locations in 47 states, operates over 800 Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts traditional stores and Jo-Ann superstores.
About Barclays Bank, Delaware
Barclays Bank Delaware is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) and a leading U.S. credit card issuer with more than 40 card partnerships in the travel, entertainment, retail, financial services, not-for-profit and educational arenas.
About Barclaycard
Barclaycard is a multi-brand credit card and consumer lending business. It is one of Europe's leading credit card businesses and has an increasing international presence.
In the UK, Barclaycard includes all Barclaycard branded credit cards and loans, Barclays loans, the FirstPlus secured lending business, Monument cards and loans and the retail finance business Clydesdale Financial Services. Barclaycard also manages card operations on behalf of Littlewoods Financial Services, House of Fraser and Sky.
Outside the UK, Barclaycard International operates in the United States (through its acquisition of Juniper Financial Corporation in 2004), Scandinavia, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal and across Africa.
Barclaycard Business processes card payments for retailers and merchants and issues credit and charge cards to corporate customers
Key facts:
Number of UK card customers: 11.2m
Barclaycard International cards in issue: 5.3m
Number of Barclaycard Business retailer/merchant relationships: 95,000
Number of Barclaycard Business corporate cardholders: 565,000
DATASOURCE: Barclays Bank Delaware
CONTACT: press, Donna Sokolsky of Sparkpr, +1-415-962-8200, ext. 22, or
, for Barclays; or Don Tomoff of Jo-Ann Stores, Inc.,
+1-330-463-6815
Web site: http://www.joann.com/