Barclays reveals £325m e-boost

High street bank Barclays today unveiled plans to invest £325m in ecommerce ventures this year, including the launch next month of a small business portal in partnership with Freeserve.

Other initiatives scheduled for launch before the end of the year include its new integrated retail financial portal, a new release of personal online banking products and a real-time share dealing service.

Barclays' total investment is up £145m from last year's total of £180m on ecommerce initiatives. The bank claims to have one million online customers.

Matt Barrett, Barclays' chief executive, said: "Our objective is to use technology to develop entirely new business models that allow us to deliver superior value to the customer, while transforming our internal infrastructure to make us more efficient and effective. Any strategy that doesn't achieve both is fundamentally flawed and will have difficulty meeting the extraordinary challenges we face."

The small business portal, which has seen several Barclays staff move to the internet company, is 60 per cent owned by Freeserve and 40 per cent by Barclays. The service goes live next month, but ongoing development plans mean it won't be fully operational until July.

Features of the planned portal include communications products and community tools, advice on sales and marketing, ecommerce (including domain name registration), employment issues, accounting, tax and law, human resources, payroll management, IT skills and finance.

It will also host MarketPlace, Freeserve's e-store operation, and Barclays' small business customers will be able to access their accounts online.

Elsewhere in the financial world, two more hi-tech flotations have been scrapped at the last minute. Internet infrastructure company Telecity has dropped plans that would have valued it at a reported £700m, while telco Project Telecom has pulled the plug on its scheduled £250m float. Cazenove & Co, Project Telecom's brokers, blamed the renewed weakness in hi-tech stocks for the decision.

Some 15 per cent of value has been wiped off the London Stock Exchange's Techmark 100 index in the last five days.

See also:

Freeserve and Barclays in SME tie-up

Freeserve, the UK's largest internet service provider, has joined forces with Barclays to launch a website aimed at the UK's three million small businesses.  30 Aug 2000

Ecommerce: where there's a will, there's a way

Although three out of four adults in the UK now use the internet in some shape or form, very few actually take the plunge and buy goods online. Julian Patterson looks at why ecommerce is not taking off in Europe as quickly as might be expected.  12 Jul 2000

Banking on ecommerce

No longer averse to taking a risk, the major high street banks are learning what the New Economy can do for them.  20 Jun 2000

Lloyds TSB signs £150m Ariba deal

Lloyds TSB Group expects to save £145m over five years after signing up Ariba to streamline its procurement processes.  18 May 2000

Freeserve sell-off rumours spread

Dixons chairman Sir Stanley Kalms has reportedly hired merchant banker Goldman Sachs to advise it on strategy for Freeserve, adding to speculation that the high street retailer is planning to sell off its ISP subsidiary.  09 May 2000

Banks insecure about ecommerce

UK banks' scepticism and hesitancy about the role of the internet within their businesses has placed the sector behind all others in Europe in ecommerce take-up, according to research commissioned by Cisco and Oracle.  09 May 2000

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