Finance
Barclays snaps up US loan firm Best Egg for $800 million
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 28, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 28, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Barclays acquires US loan firm Best Egg for $800 million to expand its personal banking presence and diversify income in the US market.
By Lawrence White and Iain Withers
LONDON (Reuters) -Barclays will buy U.S. personal loan originator Best Egg for $800 million, the British bank said on Tuesday, as it tries to add scale in its personal banking business in the United States.
The deal shows British lenders' continued appetite for acquisitions after a run of strong results, following on from HSBC's agreement to buy out Hong Kong's Hang Seng, NatWest's acquisition of the banking arm of retailer Sainsbury's and Nationwide's takeover of rival Virgin Money.
Best Egg originates consumer loans via an online platform, facilitating over $40 billion of loans for two million customers since its launch in 2013. The loans are funded through structures including securitisation and are backed by alternative asset managers, Barclays said, adding it expected to continue the model.
"The deep and sophisticated U.S. consumer finance market offers rich prospects for growth at Barclays," CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan said.
Barclays said the deal will help it build scale in the U.S. market, where its personal banking presence lags much bigger incumbent domestic banks.
Barclays said the deal will diversify its income by adding more capital-light servicing fees as opposed to interest income and interchange fees. Best Egg currently services about $11 billion in personal loans, it added.
Barclays last week announced a surprise 500 million pound share buyback and upgraded a key profitability target for the year, as its income and cost-cutting progress outweighed fresh provisions and underperformance in its investment bank.
Barclays said it expects the deal to close in the second quarter of 2026, after the completion of the previously announced sale of its American Airlines co-branded credit card receivables.
(Reporting By Lawrence White and Iain Withers; Editing by Amanda Cooper, Kirsten Donovan)
An acquisition is a corporate action in which one company purchases most or all of another company's shares to gain control. This can enhance market presence and operational capabilities.
Investment banking refers to financial services that assist companies in raising capital by underwriting and issuing securities. It also provides advisory services for mergers and acquisitions.
Personal banking is a division of banking that deals directly with individual customers, offering services such as savings accounts, personal loans, and mortgages.
Securitization is the process of pooling various types of debt—including mortgages, auto loans, or credit card debt—and selling them as consolidated financial instruments to investors.
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