Barclaycard US is set to create up to 500 jobs over the next five years with the establishment of a new call centre in Newark, Delaware.
The credit card business of UK bank Barclays says the new facility will be operational by April, initially creating 300 jobs in customer care, collections, technology, fraud management and human resources.
The firm says its call centres in Wilmington, Delaware and Wilton, Maine will remain fully operational although some staff at the former will be moved to the new site.
Barclaycard US CEO Lloyd Wirshba says the new centre is being introduced to support rapid growth that has seen the firm's portfolio more than double since early 2007, making it one of the 10 largest bankcard issuers in the country.
Explaining the decision to locate the centre in Newark, Joe Purzycki, COO, Barclaycard US, says: "Newark is an ideal fit for Barclaycard because of its proximity to the headquarters of our business in Wilmington and to high quality educational institutions that provide a great source of employment candidates and education programs."
In November Barclaycard outlined plans to hire 200 people to work at a new administrative office in New York. The staff will support the Wilmington-headquartered US business as well as global operations in Europe, Africa and Asia.
In contrast, last month parent company Barclays signalled its intention to shrink the workforce at its UK operations by 2100 positions in a bid to rightsize the business in line with depressed market conditions. The news came on top of previously confirmed plans to cut 2100 jobs across its investment banking and wealth management businesses.