Barclays Bank (Seychelles) Limited is now Absa Group Limited |13 July 2018

Barclays Bank (Seychelles) Limited is now officially the Absa Group Limited.

This is after its Holding Company, Barclays Africa Group Limited (BAGL), of which Seychelles and other group subsidiaries across Africa like Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, form part, formally changed its name to Absa Group Limited on Wednesday July 11, 2018.

This change follows the decision of London-based Barclays PLC to reduce its shareholding in BAGL from 62.3% to 14.9% resulting in the name change and gradual rebranding of the company.

The process started on June 6, 2017 and will go on for three years. By June 2020, Barclays Bank (Seychelles) Limited should be fully-operational under the Absa name.

The change was officially announced by Johan van Schalkwyk, managing director of Barclays Bank (Seychelles) in the presence of the bank’s chairman, Jean Weeling Lee.

“This is the day we will eventually change the brand from Barclays to Absa but we will do that in phases. I think today is the first day of significance and the thought of that journey be moving from blue to red. I think we have articulated the move up to the brand change and fairly well – in the media, to our customers, particularly to our colleagues, to a multitude of stakeholders inclusive of the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance and so forth. We made sure during this build-up we kept everybody abreast of the fact that this day will come,” said Mr Van Schalkwyk, adding that name change today is part and parcel of this operation journey between themselves and Barclays PLC.

Even if there is a name change from Barclays Africa Group to Absa Group Limited, the parent is still the same in terms of the shareholders in Seychelles which is 99.8% Barclays Africa Group-owned.

With regards to the separation agreement between Barclays Africa Group and Barclays PLC, Barclays had use of the PLC brand in South Africa for a period of one year starting from June 6, 2017.

He said the bank remains mindful that it has to take both its colleagues and customers on the journey. He predicted that in four years the people may see the most modern bank in the Seychelles.

“We find it as an opportunity to revamp our bank. We will achieve that objective by being more digital. And we hope the new bank we are about to bring in reflects the aspiration of our nation when it comes to banking,” said Mr Weeling Lee.

With regard to tackling the still long queues in banks and utilities services, Mr Weeling Lee said the bank will embark on an education process to educate its customers on the use of its services like ATMS and internet banking.