Barclays began in 1690 as a goldsmiths’ banking business in the City of London. Its name became associated with the firm when James Barclay joined the partnership in 1736; the modern joint-stock bank took shape in 1896, when twelve banks united as Barclays and Co. Over the centuries the business expanded across Britain and overseas. Innovations such as Barclaycard and the first cash machine made its name familiar to millions, while episodes of serious controversy show that the reach of a major bank brings responsibilities as well as influence.
A City partnership becomes a national bank
John Freame and Thomas Gould, both Quakers, began trading as goldsmith bankers in Lombard Street in 1690. The business moved to 54 Lombard Street in 1728, where the sign of the black spread eagle would later become part of its visual identity. James Barclay, Freame’s son-in-law, became a partner in 1736, bringing the Barclays name into the firm. In the eighteenth century it operated under changing partnership names, including Barclay, Bevan and Bening.
The decisive change came in 1896. Twelve banking houses in London and the English provinces united as a joint-stock bank, Barclays and Co. The new institution held around a quarter of the deposits in English private banks at its formation. It expanded its branch network through acquisitions between 1905 and 1916, then amalgamated with the London, Provincial and South Western Bank in 1918. The following year it acquired the British Linen Bank, which retained its own board and continued to issue banknotes.
Barclays’ overseas business also grew through mergers. In 1925, the Colonial Bank, National Bank of South Africa and Anglo-Egyptian Bank were amalgamated, and the group operated abroad as Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas). In later decades Barclays acquired businesses in several markets, including the Woolwich building society in 2000 and the North American operations of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
Banking changes on the high street
Barclays’ best-known British innovations arrived in the 1960s. It launched Barclaycard in 1966, the first credit card in the United Kingdom. On 27 June 1967, it deployed the world’s first cash machine in Enfield. The first person to use it was the actor Reg Varney. These developments altered how customers could borrow and access cash, taking banking services beyond the counter and its opening hours.
In 1969, a proposed merger involving Martins Bank and Lloyds Bank was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. Barclays later acquired Martins Bank on its own. In 1985, Barclays Bank and Barclays Bank International merged as part of a corporate reorganisation. A further change to everyday payments followed in 1987, when Barclays introduced Connect, the first debit card in the United Kingdom.
The group’s structure continued to evolve. It bought the Woolwich in 2000 and retained the name for a period before migrating its branches and customers to Barclays. In May 2005, the group headquarters moved from Lombard Street to One Churchill Place in Canary Wharf. During the 2008 financial crisis, Barclays raised capital from private investors rather than accepting the UK government’s offer of an equity investment. That year it acquired Lehman Brothers’ North American investment-banking and trading operations, securing a substantial US business.
An expanding international business, and scrutiny
Barclays operates in more than 40 countries. Its activities span UK consumer and corporate banking, credit cards, wealth management, investment banking and US consumer banking. In 2024, the group set out a five-division structure: the UK Consumer Bank, UK Corporate Bank, Private Bank and Wealth Management, Investment Bank, and US Consumer Bank. That range reflects a business whose centre of gravity is no longer solely the British high street, even as its headquarters and history remain closely tied to London.
Expansion has not been a simple story of growth. During the German occupation of France in the Second World War, the bank’s Paris branch worked with the occupying force. Senior officials volunteered the names of Jewish employees, and an estimated hundred Jewish bank accounts were ceded to the occupiers. The branch also used funds to increase the capacity of a quarry producing steel for the Germans. The supplied account says there was no evidence of contact between the London head office and the Paris branch during the occupation. In 1998, Barclays agreed to pay $3.6 million to Jews whose assets had been seized from French branches during the war.
In 2012, Barclays was fined £290 million over the manipulation of Libor and Euribor submissions between 2005 and 2009. The conduct included inappropriate submissions intended at times to generate profit and at other times to make the bank appear more secure during the financial crisis. The scandal led to the resignations of chairman Marcus Agius and chief executive Bob Diamond. In 2016, four former employees were jailed after criminal proceedings connected with Libor manipulation; in October 2026, the supplied Wikipedia text reports that five former traders had their interest-rate-rigging convictions overturned. That later development illustrates why the record of financial misconduct and its legal consequences should be described with care.
Technology, business and the limits of the record
Barclays’ history includes efforts to apply technology to banking, but claims about particular recent digital services need to be distinguished from broad promotional language. The supplied historical account gives concrete milestones in cards, cash machines and online business: in 1999, Barclays launched an internet service provider called Barclays.net, which was acquired by British Telecom in 2001. Its clearest documented innovations in this evidence remain the 1960s payment and cash-access developments.
Barclays has also faced questions about its conduct and impact beyond conventional banking. The supplied account records the bank’s sale of its South African business in 1986 after protests against its involvement in South Africa and the apartheid government. It also describes later environmental criticism over its ownership of a company planning to extract gas by fracking in Yorkshire; Barclays sold that business in 2020. These episodes belong in a balanced account of an institution whose decisions have had consequences beyond its customers and shareholders.
Why Barclays deserves a place in British Legacy
Barclays deserves a place in British Legacy because its history captures important changes in British banking. A partnership of goldsmith bankers in the City became a joint-stock bank, then a nationwide institution and an international financial group. Its 1966 Barclaycard and 1967 Enfield cash machine were not merely corporate milestones: they helped change how people paid for goods and obtained cash. The later introduction of the Connect debit card extended that transformation. These developments make the bank part of the story of how financial services moved from personal dealings at a branch towards faster, more accessible transactions.
That legacy should not be presented as an uncomplicated celebration of innovation or global reach. Barclays’ record includes the documented conduct of its Paris branch under German occupation, the Libor scandal and wider disputes over its actions and investments. Including those facts makes the history more useful, not less: a major British institution can be influential and innovative while also requiring scrutiny. The bank’s changing structure, its move from Lombard Street to Canary Wharf and its continuing international operations show how British financial businesses have adapted to changing markets. Its place in this story rests on both the services that altered everyday banking and the need to hold powerful institutions to account.
Sources
Barclays — Wikipedia, revision 1379213226
Adapted in part from Barclays by Wikipedia contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text has been edited and combined with the existing article; this adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.