The Weekly Wrap: all you need to know by Friday COB | March 1st

By Puja Sharma

The Weekly Wrap is published every Friday and recaps the week’s main stories and deals, as well as upcoming events and announcements. For Prime subscribers only.

The Big Story

Barclays has agreed to sell approximately $1.1 billion worth of credit card debt in the US to private equity firm Blackstone, to expand its lending capacity and reduce balance sheet risk.

Barclays Bank Delaware (BBDE) has signed the agreement with insurance accounts managed by Blackstone’s asset-based finance group, to sell the credit card debt. As part of the transaction, BBDE will enter a long-term strategic sale and servicing arrangement with Blackstone, retain the legal title for the credit card accounts and continue to service them for a fee.

Blackstone’s investment will be made entirely on behalf of the firm’s insurance clients. Barclays will also fund the transaction alongside Blackstone’s insurance accounts. The transaction, subject to certain conditions, is expected to be funded in Q1 2024.

The transaction is expected to release approximately GBP £1.0 billion of RWAs on a post-internal ratings-based approach. BBDE intends to use the proceeds of the sale to fund its lending activities.

Anna Cross, Group Finance Director at Barclays, said, “During our Investor Update, we said that we would leverage strategic partnerships to execute risk transfer agreements to reduce capital requirements. I am delighted to announce this first agreement in our US cards book.”

Deals of the week

• RegTech Napier AI lands £45m investment from Crestline
• India’s Mswipe raises $20m in primary growth equity capital
• Zūm Rails raises $10.5m to expand open banking in the US
• MoneyHash raises $4.5m seed funding to facilitate payments in MEA
• Mahindra Finance forges MSME focused co-lending alliance with Lendingkart
• Geidea strengthens operations in Saudi Arabia with key leadership appointments
• Froda and Visa expand partnership to enhance SME lending
• Moomoo expands footprint in Malaysia with Investment Super App
• NPCI International & Eurobank team to offer Foreign Inward Remittances
• Vietnam International Bank, Temenos & AWS to drive digital banking innovation
• Mumtalakat funds Singapore Gulf Bank to expand footprint in Bahrain

Be on the lookout for

Mark your calendars for April 19, 2024, as Cedar-IBSi brings an exciting lineup of events to Bengaluru! From the Cedar-IBSi Digital Banking & AI Summit, where attendees will explore the transformative power of digital banking and AI, to the prestigious IBSi Digital Banking Awards recognizing pioneers in the industry, there’s something for everyone. And let’s not forget the Cedar-IBSi FinTech Lab’s FinTech Happy Hour, offering a relaxed atmosphere for networking and forging new connections among FinTech enthusiasts. Don’t miss out on these invaluable opportunities to engage, learn, and connect with the brightest minds in digital banking and FinTech.