New Barnes & Noble Credit Card – Adds New Benefits But Still No Good

New Card

Recently Barnes & Noble (B&N) released a new credit card, it’s still issued by Barclaycard and has mostly the same benefits & features of the old card. Let’s look at the new offering first:

• $25 B&N gift card after first purchase
• Card earns at the following rates:
  • 5% back on B&N purchases (you receive 5% back on your billing statement)
  • 2x points on all restaurant purchases
  • 1x points on all other purchases
• When you earn 2,500 points they will be automatically redeemed for $25 gift card
• 12 months of B&N Membership after spending $7,500 in a year on eligible purchases (normally $25)
• No annual fee
• Free FICO score
• Quick application in store that takes 2-3 minutes

Changes

Not a lot of changes have been made to the new card, the changes that are new are:

• 2x points on all restaurant purchases
• 12 months of B&N Membership after spending $7,500 in a year on eligible purchases (normally $25)
• Quick application in store that takes 2-3 minutes
• Automatic redemption

There are lots of cards that earn at a higher rate on restaurant purchases and I doubt anybody is going to spend $7,500 on this card anyway so the free membership isn’t exactly great either.

Our Verdict

Given that there are other cards that earn 5% cash back on all bookstore purchases the Barnes & Noble card isn’t very appealing. Hopefully these aren’t the sort of changes Barclaycard are planning make to increase their market share in the U.S. You can read our full review of this card here.