Barclays competitive advantage
As a whole company, Barclays Bank identifies sustainability methods as a means of recognising and managing the economic, social, and environmental issues across the Group, and at the same time, contributing to the wellness of the society (Datamonitor.com, Barclays Bank report, 26 Feb 2010), this to give them an overall competitive advantage. As Barclays Bank PLC is a multinational company, so I have decided to focus in on their credit card, ‘Barclaycard’, arm of the company.
From there website they indicate that their priorities are to ‘build the best bank in the UK’ and ‘accelerate growth of global businesses’ (Annual Report, 2011)and there is exception for their credit card facilities.
In general, Barclaycard’s strategy has been to try a focus on being different. Differentiation has been defined by Porter (1998) as a sustainable advantage that allows it to provide buyers with something uniquely valuable to them. Carpenter (199) describes differentiation is a competitive advantage which identifies a valuable, relevant, but overlooked dimension of a product.
They have one concept of a card where customer pay by card and pay of the balance at the end of the month or pay interest on the remainder. Barclaycard currently have 9 different (Barclays.com) credit cards to meet customers’ requirements, from low interest to 0% interest on balance transfers. A successful differentiation strategy allows Barclays to provide a product to meet all customers’ requirements.
They are currently taking advantage by benchmarking their credit card