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Barclays PLC (, , ) is the third largest bank in the United Kingdom. The bank can trace its roots back to 1690 in London. The name "Barclay" first arose in 1736. Today the bank is a global financial service provider operating in the UK, Europe, United States, Asia and Africa. The bank's headquarters are at One Churchill Place in Canary Wharf, in London's Docklands, having moved there in May 2005 from Lombard Street in the City of London. Barclays' US headquarters are in New York at 200 Park Avenue. From 2004 onwards Barclays has sponsored the FA Premier League and from 2006 the Churchill Cup
Barclays PLC is the holding company that is listed on the London, New York and Tokyo Stock Exchange. It consists almost solely of Barclays Bank PLC.
On the global stage, Barclays PLC is the largest bank in the world by total assets ($1.59 trillion), the 14th largest in the world by Tier 1 capital ($32.5 billion), and the 15th largest in the world by Market capitalization ($71.6 billion).
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History of Barclays
1896 — several banks in London and the English provinces unite under the banner of Barclays and Co
1905–1916 — acquisitions of small English banks extends the branch network
1918 — Barclays amalgamates with the London, Provincial and South Western Bank
1940-1945 European branches of Barclays Bank volunteered the names of their Jewish employees to Nazi authorties, and many of them ended up in the death camps
1965 — Barclays establishes a US affiliate, Barclays Bank of California in San Francisco.
1967 — Barclays unveils the first ATM cash machine
1986 — buys de Zoete & Bevan and Wedd Durlacher to form BZW, to take advantage of Big Bang on the London Stock Exchange
1988 — Barclays sells Barclays Bank of California to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
1994 — Edgar Pearce, the "Mardi Gras Bomber" begins a terror campaign against the bank
1998 — BZW business broken up, parts sold to Credit Suisse First Boston. Retains debt business which forms the foundation of what is now Barclays Capital.
2000 — acquisition of Woolwich Plc (formerly the Woolwich Building Society)
2001 — Barclays closes 171 branches in the UK, many of them in rural communities. Calls itself 'THE BIG BANK', this is quickly pushed under the carpet after a series of embarrassing PR stunts.
2003 — Barclays buys American credit card company Juniper Bank from CIBC, re-branding it as "Barclays Bank Delaware". Acquisition of Banco Zaragozano, the 11th Spanish bank.
2006 — Barclays purchases HomEq servicing corporation for $469 million in cash from Wachovia Corp.
2006 — Barclays announces plans to re-brand Woolwich branches as Barclays, migrating Woolwich customers onto Barclays accounts and migrating back-office processes onto Barclays systems. The Woolwich brand will be used for Barclays mortgages.
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Constituents of the Barclays Group
Barclays Bank Delaware (formerly Barclaycard US, originally Juniper Bank, acquired 2003)
Barclays Retail Bank — UK clearing bank
Barclays Business Bank — UK bank
Barclays Africa — To be transferred to ABSA (South Africa)
FIRSTPLUS Financial Group PLC
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Personal Banking provided by Barclays
Barclays has many high street branches, where customers can pay-in and withdraw money and cheques into/from their accounts. Barclays provides paying-in books for this purpose. Barclays has also joined up with the Post Office Ltd to provide personal banking services to customers who live near a Post Office branch.
Most Barclays branches have 24/7 ATM machines, which are called 'Hole in the Wall.'. Barclays customers and customers of many other banks can withdraw money and check their balance free of charge.
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Barclays and their disability policy
Most high street Barclays branches have improved facilities for disabled users.
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