UK-based bank holding company Barclays is reportedly exploring possible options for an international payments business, as part of its broader review into allocation of resources.
According to Reuters, the bank has been appointing consultants to analyse whether any of its payments units needs to be expanded or combined with other players.
The major European banks have monetised their payments assets and entered commercial partnerships with payments providers, to focus on their core operations.
Barclay’s review, which is in its early stages, may not result in any changes to the company’s organisational structure.
It includes the activities pertaining issue of bank cards and payment services for merchants.
The British bank has already appointed at least one major consultancy firm and may hire others to share the assignments, said the publication.
Barclays spokesperson told Reuters: “Our three businesses continue to perform well and our business mix is robust – growing our global payments business is a priority for us.”
Barclays runs its payment operations through its UK Barclaycard business and its international Consumer, Card and Payments (CC&P) division.
Last year, the revenue of the two units increased by 35% to £4.5bn, building on larger US card balances, but posted a 19% drop in pre-tax profit due to higher impairment charges.
The review follows Barclays appointing Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to conduct a strategic review of the entire banking group, reported Bloomberg last month.
The investor scrutiny is primarily focused on how the bank should allocate resources between more predictable retail business and volatile returns from the investment bank.
Last month, Barclays partnered with Irish foreign exchange company TransferMate to provide a global receivables payments solution to service UK businesses.
The new solution will allow Barclays’ clients operating in pounds (GBP) to invoice their customers across more than 60 currencies and 67 countries in their local currency.
