New Barclaycard deal covers Seychelles |18 May 2005

This new service will take effect on June 1 and follows the signing of an agreement between Barclaycard and American Express, a diversified world-wide travel, financial and network services company. 

Besides Seychelles, the agreement covers Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana and Gambia.

According to a press release from Barclays Bank Seychelles Ltd, this partnership will provide Barclaycard Merchant Services with a sustainable competitive advantage since no other bank will be allowed to offer this exclusive service. Merchant customers will also benefit from a single acquiring relationship that will offer services with major card schemes including American Express. Full local customer market servicing and support,  and possibility for Barclaycard to improve its target customer base to include inbound American Express corporate and customer card numbers, are other benefits that will be derived from the deal.

The deal is part of the ongoing commitment from Barclaycard to improve services in Seychelles and the terms and conditions of this partnership are to acquire and manage customer relationships. The press communiqué states that Barclaycard will not issue American Express card in any of the nine countries covered under this deal.

Describing the deal as "a great initiative for Barclays Bank and its customers," the managing director of Barclays Bank (Sey) Mr Frank Hoareau, says he is delighted that Barclays will be able to offer this service to its customers and be the exclusive partner in Seychelles to process American Express Card transactions.

Barclaycard which operates throughout Africa and the Indian Ocean, is the largest issuer of credit cards in Europe with over 10 million cards in circulation. The company operates in 62 countries world-wide, including in 28 African countries.