Barclays increases transparency of credit card transactions with Mastercard and Ethoca

• The direct bank is among the first credit card providers in Germany to introduce Ethoca Consumer Clarity from Mastercard subsidiary Ethoca
• Logos and unique merchant names increase transparency for customers

Hamburg-based direct bank Barclays is working with Mastercard to improve the digital customer experience in the Barclays mobile app and online banking. Thanks to technology from Mastercard's subsidiary Ethoca, customers can now see the logos and unique names of most of the merchants they have purchased from in the transaction overview. This makes it easier to allocate purchases and reduces erroneous chargebacks. Barclays is among the first banks in Germany to implement the Ethoca technology.

"The combination of credit card and app offers customers financial freedom with maximum transparency and control. Our app is therefore a decisive factor for our customers’ digital experience. With innovations like this, we want to continuously improve this experience," says Tobias Grieß, CEO of Barclays Consumer Bank Europe.

The innovative feature is now available to all Barclays credit cardholders with immediate effect. This applies to both booked and pre-booked transactions on the Barclays mobile app and in online banking in Germany.

According to a study by Datos Insights (formerly Aite), one in four chargeback-related customer calls are due to insufficient transparency and unclear transaction data in online banking. With the new feature, Barclays credit cardholders will have greater transparency and security when shopping and will be able to see their transactions at a glance. Experience in other markets where the interface is already in use shows that customer service queries about transactions as well as chargebacks can be reduced.

"Together with our subsidiary Ethoca and Barclays as a partner, we are pleased to be able to offer this digital banking innovation in Germany. Ethoca improves the user experience and at the same time frees up capacity for the banks' customer service staff”, says Dr Peter Robejsek, Country Manager Mastercard Germany.

Digital assistant and call function in the app improves service.

In addition to displaying additional transaction data, a new digital assistant has been added to answer questions on topics such as repayment options, card blocking or PIN change within the Barclays mobile banking app in Germany. This means the majority of all queries can now be solved digitally in the app. For more complex questions, the customer service line is still available by phone. Thanks to automatic authentication in the call function of the app, customers can reach customer service faster and save valuable time.