Barclaycard chief to retire from role

The head of Barclaycard International has announced his plan to retire after the credit card business of Barclays he used to run was cut in half by the UK’s bank ringfencing law.

Amer Sajed, 56, will retire and step down from the Barclays executive committee in July. The bank said it would look at internal and external candidates to replace him.

Mr Sajed’s departure is the second time in two years that the head of Barclaycard has quit, after Val Sorrano Keating walked away two years ago.

All UK banks have to hive off their British consumer-facing operations by the end of next year. Barclays decided to split its credit card unit, including the UK activities of Barclaycard inside the ringfence while leaving the rest – including operations in the US, Germany and the Nordic region – as a separate operation run by Mr Sajed.

Barclays made £1.56bn of pre-tax profits from its international consumer cards and payments operation in 2016, up from £956m the previous year. With a return on tangible equity above 30 per cent, this was the bank’s most profitable business by some distance.

Jes Staley, Barclays chief executive, said:

Amer has made a huge contribution to the growth and development of Barclaycard during his ten years with Barclays, the last two of which have seen him lead that business globally…We wish Amer and his family every happiness, and especially in pursuing his passion for the promotion of civil liberties, and contributing to the community where he lives, which he intends to make his focus following his retirement.

Mr Sajed, who lives in Philadelphia, said:

After ten incredible years at Barclays, and decades in the financial services industry, I have decided to retire and pursue a new passion. I am proud to have been part of nearly doubling the number of customers of Barclaycard and quadrupling our profits in my decade at the bank.