Rollercoaster Extreme

The mobile App - created as part of Barclaycard’s continued commitment to mobile innovation - launched in July 2010 and quickly established itself as a favourite amongst mobile gamers as they raced their way through the streets of New York City, mirroring the popular television advert. In total 12.5 million people downloaded the App and fans of the game spent a collective 1.5 million hours riding it out on the digital rollercoaster. It’s not the first time fans have flexed their Barclaycard mobile gaming fingers, having played the hugely successful Waterslide Extreme App which was developed in conjunction with the popular TV ad campaign – later becoming the most-downloaded branded free app to date.

To bring the six-month long tournament to a close and select a gamer worthy of the title of ultimate winner and £50,000 prize money, the four players with the highest global score on the Rollercoaster Extreme leader board were invited to battle it out and take part in a worldwide play-off.

Before taking part in the play-offs, the finalists decided to split the total prize money four ways with the winner receiving £30k, second place £10K and both third and fourth places £5K each. After a nail biting finish and beating off stiff competition Lee Trow from Surrey, now living in Norway, was named overall winner. In second place came Kapil Dev Dhingra from India, living in California, Jonathan Kirkham from Dorset a close third and Seattle’s Chad Warren was fourth.

Commenting on his win Lee states: “I can’t believe that I’ve actually won the tournament – I think I’m still in shock. The whole experience, from playing the App way back in July, to getting to one of the top four places on the leader board has been fantastic and worth every second spent playing the game on my mobile.”

The news of the final follows the recent announcement from Everything Everywhere and Barclaycard that Europe’s first commercial contactless mobile phone payment solution for consumers will launch in the UK in the second quarter of 2011. The launch will offer consumers greater convenience and control when making low value transactions on the high street while ensuring maximum purchase protection.

Hannah Deans, Senior Digital and New Media Manager at Barclaycard comments: “We’ve been so impressed with the dedication from our four finalists and are so pleased for Lee with his overall win.”

“Producing such a successful mobile App demonstrates Barclaycard’s understanding of mobile technology and how consumers interact with their phones. It is an important part of our work to become part of our customer’s mobile lives whether that be paying for goods, managing finances or playing a game.”

To view footage from the competition and to see how close the battle for the ultimate prize was, please visit Barclaycard’s Rollercoaster Extreme Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/Barclaycard?v=app_10339498918#!/Barclaycard?v=app_136069396405982

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To contact the Barclaycard Press Office please call 01604 251229

About Barclaycard

Barclaycard, part of Barclays Global Retail Banking division, is a leading global payment business which helps consumers, retailers and businesses to make and accept payments flexibly, and to access short-term credit when needed.

The company is one of the pioneers of new forms of payments and is at the forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for today and cutting edge forms of payment for the future.  It also issues credit and charge cards to corporate customers and the UK Government.  Barclaycard partners with a wide range of organisations across the globe to offer their customers or members payment options and credit.

In addition to the UK, Barclaycard operates in the United States, Europe, Africa and the Middle and Far East.

Key facts published in August 2010;

-          number of UK customers: 11.1m

-          number of International customers: 10.5m

-          number of retailer/merchant relationships: 85,000

Nicola  Murray

Senior Account Executive

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