December 27th 2012 - Barclays today announces that its personal customers will be able to bank at Post Offices in Scotland and Northern Ireland with immediate effect.

Barclays already offers banking services through more than 10,000 Post Offices in England and Wales and the extension to the agreement will allow Barclays personal customers access to bank in Post Office branches in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In 2011, Barclays personal customers made millions of transactions through the Post Office Network for their personal banking needs, which included automated cash withdrawals, cash deposits and transactions to deposit cheques.

Brendan Hastings, Area Network Director for Barclays in Scotland and Northern Ireland said; “Barclays is focussed on making lives much easier for customers by offering a broader choice of how, where and when they can manage their money. By providing banking services at the Post Office, we can offer personal customers in Scotland and Northern Ireland more choice and convenience, especially to those who wish to do their banking face to face.”

Nick Kennett, Director of Financial Services at the Post Office, said; “We welcome Barclays decision to extend banking to Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is an important move which will allow thousands of customers to access their accounts through the Post Office. From Spring 2013, 95% of all UK debit cardholders will have access to their money at Post Office counters.”

Barclays personal customers will be able to pay cash and cheques into their personal current account and withdraw cash using a debit card and PIN.

Barclays is transforming financial services through innovation and adapting to the changing ways in which people want to manage their money.

Several key innovations already introduced this year including:

· Barclays Pingit our market leading application which enables customers to send money to individuals or businesses by using a mobile number.

· Barclays free mobile banking app which allows customers to have simple access and a way of managing their accounts whilst on the move.

· Barclaycard Paytag is a third of the size of a normal credit card which can be stuck to the back of any mobile phone. It can be used to make payments of £20 and under by simply being held over a contactless payment terminal.

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker