Barclays get a licence to issue American Express cards

According to this article, Barclays has a signed a deal with American Express to issue Amex cards in the UK.  The first fruits of this deal will be seen during 2013.

At present, Lloyds and MBNA are the only two credit card groups – apart from American Express itself – to offer Amex branded cards in the UK.

This is potentially good news for Head for Points readers.  Shops that accept American Express cards pay higher fees than they do if they accept Visa or MasterCard cards.  This extra money pays for extra reward points for users – that is why, for example, the Lloyds Avios American Express card is substantially more generous than the accompanying MasterCard.

At present, Barclays issues three cards that we cover – the Hilton HHonors Visa and the Priority Club and Priority Club Black Visa cards.

In theory, we could expect to see these cards relauched, potentially as a double-pack of an American Express and a Visa – with the Amex card offering substantially more points than the Visa cards do.  One to watch as the year develops.