Barclay’s launches their Visa Black Card competing directly with the American Express Centurion card. The Visa Black Card which is made out of carbon graphite, and includes similar benefits to the Centurion Card such as Priority Pass. Currently “Limited to 1% of US Residents” but criteria is currently yet to be clarified (when I called 12/2).
*1% cash back on purchases or $1 = 1 points that can redeemed for travel anytime
* 24-Hour Concierge Service
* Exclusive Rewards Program
* Luxury Gifts
* Patent Pending Carbon Graphite
* Annual Fee $495
Apply for the Visa Black Card Online
Update:
Introductory 0% Balance Transfer for 6 months
Standard APR = Prime + 9.99 = Currently 13.99%
Cash Advances = Prime + 15.99 % = Currently 19.99%
*The Exclusivity/Limited to 1% of US Residents according to Barclay’s rests heavily on a Credit Score amongst other “personal financial information”.
If you wish to know if you fit Barclay’s criteria, e.g. limited to 1% you can Apply Online with Visa Here
For additional details, articles, reviews, hands on photos and more, go to our main Visa Black Card page.
Ed you are funny 😛
What idiot is going to pay $500 to hold a stupid credit card….Yea you got money to burn give it to me. I read rich people leave their money to cats and strippers. Sounds like this cards sponsors.
Why don’t i just throw my money in the wind. Same benefits. Only a fool would waste $500 for a plastic card for their ego. Hey, get a face lift it’s cheaper.
I have both this card and the AMEX black and I’m lucky to have both. Primarily because AMEX is horrible to deal with if you spend more than 100k a month. They constantly pause my account FOR NO REASON! It has become such a hassle that I’ve moved my business away from them. I really truly believe that AMEX is on the verge of collapse. NPR recently ran a story about a $300 closing credit AMEX was issuing to account holders if they would close their accounts immediately. Scary times. If you depend on AMEX I would highly suggest diversifying now while you still can.
I just received invitation letter to apply for Visa Black card, I wonder if the $495 membership fee worth it. I guess I will hold off for now.
LOL no offense but AMEX still isn’t taken a lot of places, black card or no. They charge companies just to use their card and it ain’t cheap either.
I don’t use credit cards, so this is useless to me.
most pompous, presumptuous card ever. It’s not like you’re exempt from paying it back. And $500 a year? LOL. Whatever. Credit cards are for idiots who can’t be bothered to save up anyway. And YES I had one once. Luxury credit cards are stupid.
“Congratulations you’re now part of the 1% who gets totally awesome customer service because you’re stupid enough to pay for something that’s supposed to come to you just for being a customer, not for spending a shit ton of money”.
Wow.
Can anyone explain to me what luxury gifts can offset a 500 per month charge?
It’s not $495 a month, it’s $495 a year, most of the fees help cover the concierge service to my knowledge.
Just got the card. Already disappointed because the graphite is not quite as cool looking as I thought it would be. My Centurion card which is made out of titanium looks cooler. But with a $100,000 limit and more merchants across the world accepting Visa, I’ll try it out. Anyway, the annual fee is a quarter of my Centurion card and there is no initiation fee either.
FYI, I carry a few different black cards in order to obtain automatic upgrades at fine hotels and on certain airline carriers. Because I travel for six months of the year and can easily spend thousands of dollars per day while on a business trip, I try to reap all the benefits possible and have accumulated millions of frequent flier miles in the process.
I know that the wealthiest people don’t worry about the color of their credit card or how it looks. Just ask their personal assistant who carries their credit cards for them. When you have real money, people recognize your name, not your card. In fact, having homes in Brentwood and Upper East Side NYC, I notice that most of the very wealthy and or very famous do not want to be recognized and prefer the status of the green card. For those who know where I am coming from, green is the real black. I watched a friend charge a brand new Cessna twin prop to his personal green card. He would never carry a gold. And the truth is that the color of your AMEX card has no baring on your spending limit (which every card has). But, in certain instances, it may be helpful in business when your clients see that you are paying with a Centurion card. People want to surround do business and surround themselves with successful people.
Last week, I was eating sushi on Sunset Blvd and the cute waitress asked me if I was a CEO because I paid for my sushi on a AMEX Chairman’s card. I said no, “I’m just famous.”
It is interesting following the discussion if this card is worth the money specially considering the financial crises. Personally I believe we should all go for debit cards.
The Visa black card is really great, I got mine with Public Savings Bank
What a difference it made, saving a lot of money!
Plastic is the new BLACK?????????????????
This card is a fraud from my perspective. Your priority pass lounge access is limited to 2 visits and then you are charged $27 per visit. Any consumer can buy an unlimited priority pass for $300 – why pay Visa Black’s $495 fee to get two visits to an airport lounge? Because, of the points you say – it takes 30,000 points to get $500 in airfare at full fare rates, and your points are capped at 60,000 in any given year. Good luck flying anywhere despite no blackout dates. I got my card and called to ask about these limitations – the ’24/7′ concierge transfered me to customer service who then transferred me to the rewards department who closed at 5pm est and whose automated operator then hung up on me. A second call resulted in confirmation of the loung limitation by the concierge, confirmation of the points limits by customer service. But, when I asked for a supervisor and stated I thought they had falsely advertised their offers, the supervisor ‘could not confirm any record’ of these limitations of knowledge of their ads or offers in the invitation. You can do better with your own unlimited priority pass and any airline or rewards card with $80-$100 annual fees. Shame on you ‘Black Card’ – your offer is fraudulent and your service is far from ‘elite’. I’ve cancelled mine!
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IF YOU’RE RICH CALL US, NO PROBLEM WITH AGE!
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Why would I be interested in you?
Because you are supposed to be rich and shallow. Duh.
lmao. I think I just threw up in my mouth at the above comment.
get a life morons, it’s a bit of plastic, sorry carbon graphite lol
losers
I was invited to join the Barclays Black VISA, I dont think the actual benefits are that competitive. First of all you do not get 1 mile per dollar, you can pay off travel you spend on the card at $500 for 30,000 points. I can find alot of cross country trips on any airline frequent flyer program for 30,000 points but I can’t for $500 unless I get super lucky. So I’d rather get miles or be able to transfer into miles, instead of converting into dollars.
Add to this the limit of 60,000 points per year, is all you can accumulate. Anyone in this bracket is going to spend more than $5000 per month on their credit card, lets face it. Thats just way too low a cap.
Airline lounges are just 2 day passes per year, after that its a fee.
The one benefit which sounds great is the concierge, but I have an exec admin for that already?
Oh well, I am sticking with my good old Citi unlimited AA miles Visa.
I was sent an invitation to receive the Visa Black Card. I wanted to do a little research before I applied, so I stumbled onto this web site. After reading David’s information regarding the 60,000 cap on airline points you can earn, I thought he was kidding. I called Visa Black Card and they confirmed it. What a shock!!! Thats crazy!!! After I earned my 60,000 points,(which is 2 months) I would pull out my Amex Platinum card. Using the Visa Black Card for 2 months a year is a waste. Does anyone know why they would put such a low limit on airline points one could earn?
Black Card? Really? $495 annual fee. 13.24% APR. Indescript “luxury gifts.” Tell me again…why do I want this? Hello, Mr. Black Card, you need a better marketing department. Luckily, I’m for hire. Have your people call my people. By the way, we have a $495 annual fee for consideration of services rendered, but we have some nice “luxury gifts” for our most valued customers.
Can someone tell me why there is a $495.00 annual fee? You can get AmEx with no fee.
In reply to a previous poster, the Amex Black Card is far more superior and prestigious than the Carbon Visa. I have not been offered or bothered applying for the visa so im sure i cant pass judgement so quickly, but i cant imagine it surpassing the Black card. I use it to upgrade to first class on participating airlines, airport lounges, resteraunt where i wouldnt be able to reserve without it. Further, their concierge is equisite.. The card is made out of titanium, and not the carbon graphite plastic like card, so it is an attention magnet( be it a good or bad thing ) ..
For the people who know what it is, they ask alot of questions, and who ever does not know what it is gets confused when i hand them a metal card. all in all, i think it is a fantastic card if your willing to dish out several thousand dollars a year to maintain the card.
“Carbon Visa”?
I think you mean American Express Centurion. That’s what you’re describing.
I have a rewards Visa at a large credit union. For $50.00 per year I get unlimited points rewards and a 7.00 % APR. (I pay in full every cycle)
I don’t need to be noticed.
I do not need to pay $495 per year for questionable and undefined “Luxury Benefits”
How about a Platinum Visa check card gets your miles with 0 interest all you need to do is pay as you go. Have done it for 7 years and have no debt house and cars pd for. Carry 1 credit card only and have traveled the world with no problem. Why pay these idiots for them to stroke your egos get over yourselves people and save your fucking money.
I personally use the AMEX Platinum. Costs about the same but I get access to Delta and a couple of other airline club lounges. Gotcha here is that you have to be flying on that airline to get in but there’s never a fee. Fairly happy with it and most hotels/airlines/cabs, etc. take it.
AMEX Black Centurion !!
enough said!
When I received my Visa Black it in some cheap little black cardboard box. Nothing like when I received my Amex Black as it was in a very nice presentation wooden box. The Visa just feels like a fake card. Specially after handing over a metal card for years. I don’t know if I’m going to keep it after learning about all the lies I was told when I enrolled. My AMEX automatically gets me upgraded to a suite when I travel, yesterday while in Boston I tried to do the same thing with my Visa they girl was like sorry this doesn’t come with an upgraded. Whatever, I’ll hold on to it and use it for one of those automated charges such as XM Radio and then cancel the card when I sell the car!