Barclaycard Spending Index Shows July Year-on-Year Growth up 9.9%

NORTHAMPTON, England, August 18, 2010 - Barclaycard Spending Index reveals year-on-year growth for July up 9.9%

Consumer spending on cards saw a near double digit increase in July
compared to the same month last year, challenging concerns that consumer
confidence has dipped.

According the latest figures released by Barclaycard, traditional summer
discounting by retailers appears to have enticed consumers back to the high
street, with the amount spent on debit and credit card (
www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal-home/cards/index.html) purchases,
in-store and online, increasing by 9.9% in July compared to the same month
last year. Year-on-year figures have steadily increased since the start of
2010, with July representing the third month in a row that these figures have
increased by more than 9%.

The figures run contrary to recent reports of a dip in consumer
confidence - including the British Retail Consortium's Index of Consumer
Confidence - suggesting that a gap exists between what consumers say about
their financial prospects and how they behave, with spending on the high
street remaining strong.

Stuart Neal, head of Barclaycard UK Payment Acceptance, said: "If
consumer confidence is taking a hit, it's not happening on the high street.
If spending remains at this level compared to last year, 2010 could prove
overall to be a very good year for retailers."

Compared with June, the spending figures showed a slight increase in July
by 1.9%, partly through consumers taking advantage of the earlier start to
summer sales and July having 31 days rather than June's 30 days.

The Barclaycard Spending Index is based on spending by all credit and
debit cards, across 44 retail sectors at retailers that use Barclaycard
Payment Acceptance to process these transactions for them. Barclaycard Global
Payment Acceptance processes credit and debit card payments for 85,000
businesses in the UK, around 30% of the UK market.

Notes to editors:

Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance (
www.barclaycard.co.uk/business/accepting-payments/) enables businesses
to accept credit and debit card payments.

The data in this index relates to retailers' credit and debit card
transactions processed by Barclaycard rather than purchases made with a
Barclaycard or those looking to purchase credit cards (
www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal-home/cards/platinum-hero/platinum-purchase/index.html).

The index does not take into account the effects of any cash payments
made to retailers. The index does not adjust for price increases/decreases
but measures the value of credit and debit card spending at retailers that
use Barclaycard to process their card payments.

About Barclaycard (www.barclaycard.co.uk/):

Barclaycard, part of Barclays Global Retail Banking division, is a
leading global payment business which helps consumers, retailers and
businesses to make and accept payments flexibly, and to build credit
(www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal-home/cards/initial/) and access
short-term credit when needed.

The company is one of the pioneers of new forms of payments and is at the
forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for
today and cutting edge forms of payment for the future. It also issues credit
and charge cards to corporate customers and the UK Government.

Barclaycard partners with a wide range of organisations across the globe
to offer their customers or members payment options and credit.

    For further media information, please contact:
    Andrew Bond
    Barclaycard Press Office
    Barclaycard
    1234 Pavilion Drive
    Northampton
    NN4 7SG
    www.barclaycard.co.uk

For further media information, please contact: Andrew Bond, Barclaycard Press Office, Barclaycard, 1234 Pavilion Drive, Northampton, NN4 7SG