Barclays, Bean set Visa card program

FREEPORT – L.L. Bean and Barclays on Monday announced the launch of a new Visa card they said will provide enhanced benefits to shoppers who use it to charge their purchases from the outdoors outfitter.

The card is to become available today as a replacement for the L.L. Bean Visa card issued by Bank of America. L.L. Bean said previously that it was discontinuing its 12-year relationship with Bank of America and predecessor company MBNA.

“In Barclays, we found a partner that shares our commitment to quality, value and customer service,” said Chris McCormick, president and CEO of L.L. Bean. “Barclays went the extra mile with us to create a program that suits the needs of our card members and positively reflects our brand.”

The new card, like the old, has no annual fee and features free shipping and monogramming on L.L. Bean merchandise along with coupon dollars good toward future purchases. As an added benefit, the new card offers free shipping for merchandise returns.

In seeking a new credit card partner, L.L. Bean said it was drawn by Barclays’ commitment to opening a customer service site in Maine. The facility, which opened in mid-June in Wilton, will serve L.L. Bean cardholders as well as those in other partner programs.

McCormick and Lloyd Wirshba, CEO of the Barclaycard US unit of Barclays PLC, were joined at the announcement by Gov. John Baldacci, who noted that the Wilton center will have about 50 employees this year and the potential for 150 more in the years to come.

Baldacci also said the L.L. Bean-Barclays partnership is creating 50 more jobs in Maine through the inbound telemarketing vendor ACS in Lewiston, which Barclays uses to process program applications.