Juniper Bank

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Juniper logo

Juniper Bank (now known as Barclays Bank Delaware) was founded in January 2000 by several former executives of First USA Bank. Richard Vague - CEO, and Jim Stewart - President, received the initial round of funding from Benchmark Capital.

Juniper was initially a full service on-line bank, offering checking and savings accounts, online bill pay, credit and debit cards. Their initial focus was on providing a state of the art online banking service. Juniper later focused solely on credit cards, offering cards with partners such as US Airways, the Harvard Alumni Association, Barnes & Noble, and Apple, among others.

Juniper's investors sold the company to British-based Barclays Bank PLC in 2004. By 2005, Juniper had become the fastest growing major credit card issuer in the US and in 2008 Juniper/Barclays , also known as simply Barclaycard, became one of the top 10 card issuers in the US, issuing both Visa and MasterCard accounts.

Juniper's consumer acquisition strategy focuses on partnering with known, trusted corporations and institutions whose brand reputation provide consumers with a sense of confidence and security with the credit card they are receiving. Juniper's lending practices involve the unilateral raising of interest rates without prior notice to consumers, charging extremely high fees for late payments, and raising even good customers with good credit scores interest rates to unconscionable rates when a payment has been missed. These practices have resulted in considerable public outcry on feedback websites, especially in light of the recent economic turmoil felt by many American families.