In this role, Mr. Karinshak will be responsible for creating the overall strategy and leading the execution of Customer Care and Bank Operations, including driving customer satisfaction and loyalty, call center operations and working with Barclaycard US partners in delivering best in class customer service. Mr. Karinshak will report directly to Chief Operating Officer Joe Purzycki and join the Barclaycard US Executive Committee.

Mr. Karinshak comes to Barclaycard US with extensive experience in all areas of customer support, cross-sell and retention, as well as marketing and people management. He recently spent eight years at AOL Time Warner, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Customer Management. During his tenure, Mr. Karinshak was responsible for all member communications, product marketing, retention and loyalty programs, driving innovation and creating and implementing the marketing strategy to grow AOL's membership base. Mr. Karinshak's leadership and organizational skills were forged throughout his distinguished military career as a Combat Engineer Captain in the United States Army. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and received his masters in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri-Rolla.

"Tom Karinshak brings extensive experience in overseeing two critical aspects of our business -- customer care and bank operations," said Lloyd M. Wirshba, CEO of Barclaycard US. "We are increasing and broadening the sophistication of customer care solutions for our four million cardmembers and Tom's significant operational and customer management experience will support our aggressive growth strategy."

"I'm proud to be joining a world-class organization such as Barclaycard US with its impressive track record and future growth prospects," said Mr. Karinshak. "I look forward to contributing my expertise toward enhancing the already positive relationships Barclaycard US enjoys with its cardmembers and partners."

Separately, Barclaycard US today announced the appointment of Scott A. Young as General Manager, Partnerships. In this role, Mr. Young will be responsible for driving the strategy and profitability of Barclaycard US' thriving Partnership business within the Americas, including leading the Strategic Alliances and Partner Management teams. Mr. Young will report directly to Barclaycard US CEO Lloyd M. Wirshba and join the Barclaycard US Executive Committee.

Mr. Young has more than 17 years of experience in consumer lending and comes with a proven track record of developing and managing credit card partnerships. He joins Barclaycard US from GE Consumer Finance were he most recently served as president and chief executive officer of its Personal Finance business. His responsibilities there included managing the agent bank, affinity and direct to consumer credit card programs, as well as several lending partnerships with high-profile retailers. In addition, he managed non-card consumer lending products including home, personal, auto and student loans, as well as a savings product. Prior to GE, Mr. Young spent 12 years at MBNA (now Bank of America), where he held positions in marketing, business development, operations and risk and managed the Wachovia credit card partnership, one of MBNA's largest partnership portfolios at the time.

"The significant growth of Barclaycard US has been fueled by a successful co-branded business strategy, innovative partner programs and a focus on the satisfaction of partners and cardholders," said Wirshba. "I'm confident that Scott's industry expertise and experience in running successful partner programs will be leveraged to ensure that Barclaycard US partner programs continue to be the foundation of our business in the future.

"Barclaycard US is an extraordinary organization with its growing portfolio of distinguished name brand partners," said Mr. Young. "Its willingness to work closely with partners, customize unique programs and create effective, new solutions is what differentiates Barclaycard US from other issuers."