Personal Finance News
Barclays to Introducing New Banking Products for AARP Members
Barclays has revealed plans to launch new banking products and offers exclusively for AARP members.
About the upcoming products and offers:
Today, Barclays announced that it will soon launch a new suite of products for AARP members in the United States. This will include a high-yield savings account as well as CDs. Both of those offerings are slated to debut this spring. Additionally, the bank intends to roll out personal loan products in 2026 that will feature competitive interest rates exclusive to AARP members.
According to Barclays, its AARP banking program will make it easy for members to open accounts, deposit funds remotely, and more. Users will also be able to link external accounts from other institutions.
News of these banking products comes four years after Barclays became the exclusive issuer of AARP credit cards. This includes the AARP Essential Rewards Mastercard and the AARP Travel Rewards Mastercard. With the Essential Rewards card, members can earn 3% back on gas, 3% back at drug stores, 2% back on eligible medical expenses (including purchases at doctors, dentists, chiropractors, eyeglass retailers, etc.), and 1% on all other purchases. Meanwhile, the Travel Rewards card earns 3% back on airfare, hotel bookings, and car rentals plus 2% back at restaurants and 1% back on everything else. Neither card carries an annual fee.
Although AARP is designed for those over 50, membership is open to anyone over the age of 18. Currently, an annual membership for AARP costs $15 for the first year and $20 a year after that.
What they’re saying:
Discussing the partnership with AARP and its expansion, the Head of Banking for Barclays U.S. James Capolongo said, “Over the past four years, Barclays has offered credit card products tailored to deliver benefits exclusively for AARP members. Through Barclays’ innovative savings and personal loan programs, we will provide AARP members unparalleled value, convenience. and security to help them take charge of their financial futures.”
My thoughts:
First, as noted, it’s a little-known fact that you don’t have to be 50+ in order to join AARP. In fact, I’ve considered joining myself since the annual membership fee is relatively low and membership featured a number of discounts.
As for the news at hand, I’m very interested in seeing how these banking products from Barclays differ from the everyday HYS accounts and CDs you can find elsewhere. I suppose I could see them perhaps offering an extra 25 basis points on interest rates or something of the sort. With these options expected to launch in the coming month, I guess I’ll just need to check back in and see how these AARP-exclusive options compare to what Barcalys already has to offer.
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