Barclays Bank Seychelles to change to Absa in February |20 January 2020
Barclays Bank Seychelles has announced that it will officially change its name to Absa Bank Seychelles on February 10 this year. The bank will legally trade as ‘Absa Bank’ in Seychelles from this date, while continuing its transition from the Barclays brand in a carefully managed process.
“We have served Seychelles proudly for 60 years, and can trace our company’s roots as far back as 1959, demonstrating the length and strength of our commitment to Seychelles,” said Johan Van Schalkwyk, managing director of Barclays Bank Seychelles.
“We are now about to embark on a new and exciting chapter in the company’s history, as we embrace our new Absa identity.”
Barclays Bank Seychelles’ change is part of one of the largest, most ambitious corporate rebranding projects in the continent’s history and part of a broader, multi-country rebrand programme by parent company, Absa Group Limited.
After over three years of preparation, the bank has proudly announced that it will officially be known as Absa Bank from February 10, 2020, onwards. Even though some branches have already started to look like Absa, with a warm, vibrant red colour palette across branches, ATMs and other assets, the bank will continue to operate and trade as Barclays Bank (Seychelles) Limited until its name officially changes.
“With our name change date now confirmed, we stand on the precipice of a new era, one that is full of possibilities and that will allow us to embrace our ambition as an independent African bank, with global scalability, but still very cognizant of our role in society, under a new name – Absa Bank. The Absa brand represents a uniquely diverse African banking group whose purpose is to bring possibilities to life,” said Johan Van Schalkwyk.
Our parent company Absa Group Limited, is one of the largest banking groups in Africa, with a balance sheet of more than USD 91 billion (as at June 30, 2019), operations across 12 African countries, with a representative office in London and one soon to open in New York. The Group has approximately 40,000 employees, more than 1,000 branches, and nearly 10,000 ATMs.
For customers, all cards, accounts, banking processes, etc. will remain active and function as they have always done.
Barclays Bank Seychelles will not ask any customer for additional information during this period, and all bank records will remain the same, before and after the transition. The bank has urged customers to be particularly vigilant during this time, as fraudsters are always looking for opportunities to obtain important personal information.
The date of the bank’s name change will be a massive milestone in a carefully planned process for both Barclays Bank Seychelles and Absa Group Limited.
This has been no small feat and the entire organisation is passionately proud to be part of this broad, multi-country rebrand programme, scheduled to be completed by mid-2020.
Press release from Barclays Bank Seychelles/Absa