Last night, the winners of The Card Awards for 2011 for best practices in customer service, excellence and innovation in cards and payments in the UK and Ireland were doled out. And being that the awards are British, they were presented at a black-tie affair. My fellow Americans, that’s called class.

The winners: 

Best Industry Innovation of the Year
Bank of America – Adaptive authentication/3D secure from MBNA

Finalists:
Barclaycard – Barclaycard Freedom
Barclaycard – Multi channel messaging
HSBC Bank – HSBC Visa Debit/Credit Combined Card
Metro Bank – Unique instant issuance of EMV, personalised credit and debit cards
Orange and Barclaycard – The Orange Credit Card with MasterCard inControl TM 
Bank of America – Adaptive authentication/3D secure from MBNA

Best New Credit Card Product of the Year

Amazon.co.uk and Bank of America – Amazon.co.uk MasterCard

Finalists:
AA Financial Services and Bank of America – AA Credit Card
Amazon.co.uk and Bank of America – Amazon.co.uk MasterCard
American Express – Express Rewards
Egg Banking – Egg Card and the Egg Cashback store
Lloyds Banking Group – Halifax Clarity – the clear voice of the customer!
Sainsbury’s Finance – Sainsbury’s Gold Credit Card

Best New Prepaid Card Product of the Year
Post Office and Bank of Ireland – Post Office Budget Card

Finalists:
AA Financial Services and Newcastle Building Society – AA Spend and Earn MasterCard Prepaid Card
E.Z. Pay and Newcastle Building Society – Escape Travel Money Card
The Royal Marsden and House of Fraser – The Royal Marsden Charity Gift Card
Moneybookers and Newcastle Building Society – Moneybookers MasterCard Prepaid Card
Post Office and Bank of Ireland – Post Office Budget Card
Unity Trust Bank and Newcastle Building Society – ALTO MasterCard Prepaid Card

Best New Debit Card Product of the Year
Duncan Lawrie – Duncan Lawrie Visa SimplyOne

Finalists:
Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank – Launch of Debit MasterCard
Duncan Lawrie – Duncan Lawrie Visa SimplyOne

Best Credit Card Marketing Campaign of the Year
American Express – Realise the potential – 360° brand activation

Finalists:
American Express – Realise the potential – 360° brand activation
American Express – Express Rewards
Barclaycard – Barclaycard Freedom
Barclaycard – Barclaycard Rollercoaster
Lloyds Banking Group – Everyone’s Crazy for Clive
The Royal Bank of Scotland – RBS Business Card Campaign 2010

Best Prepaid Card Marketing Campaign of the Year
ASDA – Launch of the ASDA Student Shopper Card

Finalists:
ASDA – Launch of the ASDA Student Shopper Card
Travelex and Raphaels Bank – Cash Passport Summer advertising campaign
Travelex and Raphaels Bank – Rands for Fans – limited edition FIFA World Cup Cash Passport

Best Card Design of the Year
Yorkshire Bank – Yorkshire Bank Private Debit MasterCard

Highly Commended:
Lloyds Banking Group – Clarity – a credit card to be proud of

Finalists:
Egg Banking – Egg Card
House of Fraser – Mucho Libre Gift Card
Lloyds Banking Group – Lloyds TSB London 2012 Charity Card
Lloyds Banking Group – Clarity – a credit card to be proud of
Sainsbury’s Finance – Sainsbury’s Gold Credit Card
Yorkshire Bank – Yorkshire Bank Private Debit MasterCard

Best Card Benefits Programme of the Year
Sainsbury’s Finance – Sainsbury’s Gold Credit Card

Finalists:
AA Financial Services and Bank of America – AA Credit Card
American Express – Cashback Vouchers Programme
Barclaycard – Barclaycard Freedom Card Programme
Debenhams and Prepay Solutions – Debenhams Christmas Savings Card
Egg Banking – Egg Card and the Egg Cash Back Store
Sainsbury’s Finance – Sainsbury’s Gold Credit Card

Best Card Cross-selling Programme of the Year
Barclaycard – Barclaycard LifestylePlan

Finalists:
Bank of America – More Rewards Plus Cross-sell Campaign
Barclaycard – Barclaycard LifestylePlan

Best Affinity or Co-branded Credit Card Programme
Play.com and Bank of America – Play.com Credit Card

Finalists:
Play.com and Bank of America – Play.com Credit Card
Buying Solutions and The Royal Bank of Scotland – Government Procurement Card RBS onecard
Virgin Money and Bank of America – Virgin Credit Card
Virgin Atlantic and Bank of America – Virgin Atlantic American Express Credit Card

Best Charity Credit Card Programme
RSPB and The Co-operative Financial Services – RSPB Credit Card

Finalists:
Lloyds Banking Group – Lloyds TSB London 2012 Charity Card
NSPCC and Lloyds Banking Group – NSPCC Charity Credit Card
RSPB and The Co-operative Financial Services – RSPB Credit Card
Virgin Money and Bank of America – Virgin Charity Credit Card

Best Business Card Programme
Department for Work and Pensions and J.P. Morgan – Department for Work and Pensions Government Procurement Card

Finalists:
Atos Origin – fuelGenie
Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank – Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank Business Credit Card
CorporatePay and Newcastle Building Society – Corporate Expense
Department for Work and Pensions and J.P. Morgan – Department for Work and Pensions Government Procurement Card
The Royal Bank of Scotland – RBS/NatWest Business Credit Card
Travelodge and G-T-P Solutions – The Travelodge Business Account Card

Best CSR Programme
M&S Money – Not just any CSR, it’s M&S CSR

Finalists:
Earthport – Earthport for Philippine National Bank – innovation in remittances
HSBC Merchant Services – Building educational opportunities to unlock staff potential
LaSer UK – Make A Difference
M&S Money – Not just any CSR, it’s M&S CSR

Best Merchant Acquiring Initiative
AIB Merchant Services – AIBMS loyaltyplus

Finalists:
AIB Merchant Services – AIBMS loyaltyplus
Barclaycard – Barclaycard Freedom
Elavon Merchant Services and Santander – Elavon/Santander Alliance
HSBC Merchant Services – Dismantling silos – radical results from a holistic sales approach
WorldPay – First UK acceptance of UnionPay Cards at the point of sale

Best Alternative Payments Programme
Earthport – Earthport Direct – Global Payments for SMEs

Finalists:
Barclays Bank – Barclays Mobile Banking
Earthport – Earthport for Philippine National Bank – innovation in remittances
Earthport – Earthport Direct – Global Payments for SMEs
HSBC Merchant Services – Rise of the machines – using new technology to open an untapped market
Moneybookers – Moneybookers.com
Ukash – Ukash, the global e-money network

Best Security or Anti-fraud Development
HSBC Merchant Services – Introducing Sentinel – a new first in customer present security

Finalists:
Bank of America – MBNA Adaptive Authentication / 3D Secure
Bank of America – MBNA Online Banking SiteKey
HSBC Merchant Services – Introducing Sentinel – a new first in customer present security
Lloyds Banking Group – Fraud prevention based on knowledge-based authentication
Moneybookers – Real time fraud prevention engine
Nationwide Building Society – Focus on fraud

Best Technology Initiative of the Year
Barclaycard – Barclaycard Freedom

Finalists:
Bank of America – Online Banking SiteKey from MBNA
Barclaycard – Barclaycard Freedom
Earthport – Earthport Direct- global payments for SMEs
HSBC Merchant Services – Broadband delivers speed and value for enhanced merchant service
White Eagle Europe and Newcastle Building Society – OBI – Online Business Intelligence

Best CRM Programme
M&Co. and LaSer UK – M&Co. VIP Campaign

Finalists:
American Express – Forming vibrant, lasting connections with our best customers
American Express – Centurion Card Relationship Manager Strategy
American Express – Preferred Seating from American Express
Bank of America – MBNA CRM Online Development
M&Co. and LaSer UK – M&Co. VIP Campaign
Santander Cards – Integrated CLI and Cashback Campaign

Best Achievement in Customer Service
Bank of America – In pursuit of service excellence

Highly Commended:
Lloyds Banking Group – Lloyds Banking Group response to volcanic ash

Finalists:
American Express – Travel disruption crisis – Icelandic Volcano incident April 2010
Bank of America – In pursuit of service excellence
Barclaycard – Keeping customers in control with mybarclaycard alerts
Capital One – Reconnecting with our customers
Lloyds Banking Group – Lloyds Banking Group response to volcanic ash
M&S Money – Think Customer!

Most Responsible Credit Card Lending Practices
Nationwide Building Society – More Than Words

Finalists:
Lloyds Banking Group – ‘Helping Hands’ – supporting customers in difficulty
Nationwide Building Society – More Than Words

Industry Personality of the Year
Ron Kalifa