What is Barclays Bank? Barclays Bank Review, Features

Barclays Bank is one of the largest banks and financial institutions in the world.

About Barclays Bank

Barclays Bank is headquartered in London, UK. Founded in 1690, Barclays Bank is the oldest bank in the UK with a history of over 300 years. It is the first bank in the world to have an ATM machine. It issued the first credit card in the UK in 1966 and the first debit card in the UK in 1987. As of 2013, it had 140,000 employees worldwide. As of 2012, its total assets reached 1.49 trillion pounds, making it the seventh largest bank in the world and the second largest bank in the UK after HSBC. Barclays Bank operates in more than 50 countries around the world and has more than 2,100 branches in the UK.

Company size

Barclays Bank is a financial services company centered in the UK, with its main businesses in banking and investment. If measured by assets, Barclays Bank is one of the largest financial banks in the UK. Barclays Bank has branches in many other countries and is a multinational bank with great influence. Barclays Bank has a history of more than 300 years and its business covers more than 60 countries, including all financial centers. By 2012, Barclays Bank had approximately 139,200 employees worldwide, of which 55,300 worked in the UK.

Main Business

Barclays consists of two main businesses: Global Retail and Commercial Banking (GRCB) and Investment Banking and Investment Management (IBIM).

Commercial Banking Services

• With more than 300 years of history and professional banking knowledge, Barclays Bank's main businesses are concentrated in the following six areas:
• UK Bank provides banking products and services to over 14 million individual customers and 762,000 companies.
• Barclays Card is one of the largest global credit card issuers, with approximately 15 million customers worldwide.
• Barclays Capital is a leading global investment bank providing financing and risk management solutions to large corporate, institutional and government clients.
• Barclays Global Investors plc is one of the world's largest asset managers and a leading provider of investment management products and services.
• Barclays Wealth Management manages more than £74 billion of client funds
• International Retail and Commercial Banking, providing a range of banking services to corporate clients throughout the Caribbean, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Africa and the Middle East.

Global Retail

GRCB's business consists of UK Retail Banking, Barclays Commercial Banking, Barclays Credit Cards, and International Retail and Commercial Banking. UK Retail Banking serves 15 million UK customers through a network of approximately 1,700 branches.

Barclays Commercial Banking provides banking services to institutions with annual turnover of more than £1 million. Barclays Card offers credit cards and consumer lending, processes card payments for retailers and merchants, and issues credit and payment cards to corporate customers and the UK government.

GRCB's Western European business includes retail and commercial banking in France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, serving nearly one million customers. GRCB's Emerging Markets business is responsible for Barclays' retail and commercial business in emerging markets such as the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf States, Sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt and North Africa, as well as India and the Indian Ocean.

Bank Management

IBIM businesses include Barclays Capital, Barclays Global Investors and Barclays Wealth Management. Barclays Capital is a global investment bank that provides solutions to large corporate, institutional and government clients to meet their financial and risk management needs. Barclays Global Investors is a leading global provider of investment management products and services. Barclays Wealth Management provides private banking, asset management, stockbroking, offshore banking, wealth structuring and financial planning services to high net worth and intermediary clients around the world.