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Saturday 25 February 2012

Barclays Bank

Barclays Bank traces its origins back to 1690 when John Freame and Thomas Gould started trading as goldsmith bankers in Lombard Street, London. The name "Barclays" became associated with the bank in 1736, when James Barclay, son-in-law of John Freame, one of the founders, became a partner in the business.


In 1728, the bank moved to 54 Lombard Street, which was identified by the 'Sign of the Black Spread Eagle', over the years becoming a core part of the bank's identity.

ln 1785, when John Tritton, who had married a Barclay, was admitted as a partner, the business then became "Barclay, Bevan, Bening and Tritton."

In 1896 20 banks in London and the English province united under the banner of Barclays and Co., a joint-stock bank. The largest of them were Barclay, Bevan, Ransom, Tritton Bouverie and Co, and the East Anglian Gurney group of banks. They chose the name Barclay because it came first alphabetically among the list of directors. 

In 1917 the name was changed to Barclays Bank Ltd.

Barclays bank Melton Road Belgrave Leicester.  Victuallers

Barclays was the first UK bank to appoint a woman bank manager. In 1958 Hilda Harding was appointed manager of Barclays' Hanover Square branch in London. She remained there until her retirement in 1970.

In 1959 Barclays became the first British bank to order a computer for its accounting.

The first ever cash dispenser was fitted outside the bank's branch in Enfield, north London on June 27, 1967.

Barclays launched Barclaycard in June 1966, initially as a charge card. Following Bank of England agreement to the offering of revolving credit, it became the first credit card in the United Kingdom on  November 8, 1967. Barclaycard enjoyed the monopoly of the credit card market in the United Kingdom, until Lloyds Bank, Midland Bank and National Westminster Bank launched the Access Card in October 1972.

Barclays was the first UK bank to issue a debit card. They issued the Connect card in June 1987 to reduce the number of checks being used at the point of sale, which are costly for the banks to process.

Today, Barclays has over 4,750 branches, including more than 3,000 outside Britain in 50 countries. It employs 147,000 people and has 42 million customers. 

Sources ReutersWikipedia

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