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Two Barclays-issued credit cards that are closed to new applications are getting makeovers and switching to the Mastercard payment network, although they'll still be available to existing cardholders only:
The Barclaycard Visa with Apple Rewards will become the Barclays View Mastercard.
The Barclaycard Financing Visa will become the Barclays Financing Mastercard.
Again, only current cardholders will have access to these new products. Barclays won't be accepting new applicants.
Cardholders should expect a new credit card and number in May 2021, depending on when their billing cycle ends. Here’s what’s changing.
Changes to the Barclaycard Visa with Apple Rewards
The $0-annual-fee Barclaycard Visa with Apple Rewards was closed to new applications after the 2019 debut of the Apple Card from Goldman Sachs. Still, existing Barclays customers retained those older cards and the rewards structure.
They'll now be transitioned to the new Barclays View Mastercard — at which point they'll go from earning bonus rewards on Apple products to earning bonus rewards on applesauce and apple pie, among other purchases. Here's how the old card compares with the new one:
Barclaycard Visa with Apple Rewards | Barclays View Mastercard | |
|---|---|---|
Annual fee | $0 | $0 |
Rewards |
|
|
Benefits | Standard Visa and Visa Signature core benefits | Standard Mastercard Core benefits including rental car coverage, ID theft protection and Mastercard Global Services |
Any rewards earned on the old card before the transition will remain intact.
New rewards earned on the Barclays View Mastercard will be valued at 1 cent per point and can be redeemed for statement credit, a deposit into a bank account, gift cards or merchandise. (Rewards on the older card were redeemable for Apple gift cards only.)
The new Barclays View Mastercard will also have an annual fee of $0.
Changes to the Barclaycard Financing Visa
When the Barclaycard Visa with Apple Rewards was taken off the market, the Barclaycard Financing Visa was introduced in its place for new applicants. It didn't earn rewards — with Apple or anywhere else — but it did feature deferred interest offers on Apple products.
Once holders of the Barclaycard Financing Visa are transitioned to the new Barclays Financing Mastercard, they'll still have access to such "special financing" offers, but those offers will no longer be limited to Apple products only. Cardholders will continue to get periodic financing offers, if eligible, at select electronics stores like Apple or Best Buy.
Deferred interest offers aren't the same thing as true 0% intro APR offers. With a deferred interest offer, interest is still accruing in the background. You’ll owe no interest on the purchase if you pay it off in full during the promotional period. But if you owe any balance on the purchase when that promo period ends, you'll be charged interest retroactively for the full amount of the transaction, going back to the original date of purchase. With a true 0% intro APR offer, interest is waived — not deferred — and when that intro period ends, you'll owe interest on the remaining balance only.
The transition from Visa to Mastercard means cardholders will also get new benefits under the Mastercard payment network, including an auto rental collision damage waiver. The card will maintain its $0 annual fee.
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