Barclays Sells Off Corporate, Payroll Prepaid Portfolio

Barclays has divested its portfolio of physical prepaid cards in the U.K., selling the assets to Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), PFS said in a press release Wednesday (March 6).

PFS took on the corporate and payroll prepaid card assets from Barclays and integrated the portfolio into its own platform earlier this year, the company noted. In a statement, PFS CEO Noel Moran said the acquisition will enable the company to enhance its offering to corporate customers using corporate prepaid cards and payroll card solutions.

“We are working hard to achieve a seamless migration for clients of Barclays,” Moran said, noting that Barclays prepaid card customers in the U.K. will be shifted to the PFS platform. “The deal will enable PFS to offer an enhanced service to existing and future payroll and corporate clients. Adding this Corporate and Payroll portfolio to our existing corporate book further strengthens our position in the market as one of the leading payment providers for corporate customers.”

The companies did not reveal financial details of the deal. A representative from Barclays did not comment on the matter.

Earlier this week Barclays announced that it would merge two of its payments apps, BPay and Pingit, into a single solution to streamline its wearable mobile payments offering and compete with industry leaders like Apple.

While prepaid cards are an important component of corporate payments offerings, the tools are also subject to the risk of fraud as cybercriminals trick victims into obtaining prepaid cards and gift cards and delivering that card information to the fraudsters.

Power company Ameren spoke with PYMNTS about how small businesses are increasingly in the crosshairs of scams like the utility scam, which instructs victims to obtain a prepaid card and provide the PIN to a criminal.

“Unfortunately, these folks are very good at what they do, and use social engineering to get information from people who unwittingly give it to them,” explained Ameren Director of Corporate Security Terry Roberds.