Barnes & Noble MasterCard Offers Big Savings for Last-Minute Back-to-School Shoppers

Earn 5% back on textbook purchases at any Barnes & Noble store and at BN.com; New card benefits rolling out this fall

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Aug 24, 2015, 09:00 ET

WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Procrastinators can still make it to the head of the class on back-to-school shopping savings, especially with book and textbook purchases. As families and college students turn to the No. 1 most powerful "back-to-school" retail brand¹ Barnes & Noble, they can earn 5% back on all purchases in-store and online by using the Barnes & Noble MasterCard, issued by Barclaycard.

Barnes & Noble MasterCard, issued by Barclaycard

When buying college textbooks, the 5% back on Barnes & Noble purchases adds up fast. According to The College Board², the average cost for books and supplies last year was $1,225 at public colleges and $1,244 at private colleges. Based on that spending, using the Barnes & Noble MasterCard for those purchases at Barnes & Noble campus stores or at BN.com could provide $60 in immediate savings on one year's books. Over the course of four years, a full-time undergraduate student could have a total savings of nearly $250, simply by using their Barnes & Noble MasterCard when getting school books and supplies.

"Barnes & Noble is the perfect back-to-school destination for families and students buying school supplies, from books to science and math products, and so much more," said Jaime Carey, chief operating officer at Barnes & Noble. "No other retailer can match the carefully curated selection Barnes & Noble offers students of all ages throughout the school year."

The Barnes & Noble MasterCard is the only card that gives you 5% back on all Barnes & Noble purchases in-store, online and at one of its 724 campus stores nationwide. The credit card has no annual fee and offers other benefits such as a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card after the first purchase and an additional $25 gift card for every 2,500 points earned.

"The Barnes & Noble MasterCard is an ideal card for parents of school-age children or college students spending a significant amount of money on textbooks and books for school," said Jennifer Brown, assistant vice president of retail partnerships at Barclaycard US. "With all the costs associated with back-to-school season, this is one of the easiest ways to save on these purchases."

This fall, the Barnes & Noble MasterCard is gaining two new benefits. The expanded features will include earning 2 points for every $1 spent at restaurants and the ability to earn 12 months of Barnes & Noble Membership after spending $7,500 per year on eligible purchases. The expanded benefits will be available to new cardmembers starting Sept. 2, and Nov. 15 for existing cardmembers.

Benefits exclusive to the Barnes & Noble MasterCard

5% back at Barnes & Noble when you use your card at any Barnes & Noble store and online at BN.com
Earn a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card after your first purchase
New! Earn 2 points for every $1 spent at restaurants (available soon)
Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases (excluding Barnes & Noble purchases)
Automatically receive a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card after you earn 2,500 points
New! Earn 12 months of Barnes & Noble Membership after spending $7,500/year on eligible purchases (available soon)
No annual fee
Complimentary FICO® Credit Score

For more information about the Barnes & Noble MasterCard or to apply, visit www.bncreditcard.com.

About Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is a Fortune 500 company, the nation's largest retail bookseller, and a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The Company operates 648 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web's premier e-commerce sites, BN.com. The Nook Digital business offers a lineup of popular NOOK® tablets and eReaders and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store®. The NOOK Store features more than 4 million digital books in the US and UK, plus periodicals, comics, apps, movies and TV shows, and offers the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through Free NOOK Reading Apps™ available for Android™, iOS® and Windows®.

About Barclaycard US
Headquartered in Wilmington, Del., Barclaycard US is the fastest-growing top 10 U.S. credit card issuer. The company creates customized, co-branded credit card programs for some of the nation's most successful travel, entertainment, retail, affinity and financial institutions. The business also issues its own Barclaycard branded credit cards: Barclaycard Ring, Barclaycard Rewards, and the Barclaycard Arrival product series. For more information on Barclaycard please visit BarclaycardUS.com.

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¹ Tenet Partners study of the Top 20 Most powerful "back-to-school" retail brands. Tenet Partners is a leading brand innovation and marketing firm, and its annual study of approximately 10,000 consumers and business decision-makers found that Barnes & Noble has the highest familiarity (degree of awareness) and favorability (positive perception) scores among leading back-to-school retailers.

² The College Board's Trends in College Pricing Report, http://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/2014-trends-college-pricing-final-web.pdf (Student Budgets, 2014-15; p. 12)

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SOURCE Barclaycard US