Firstsource Signs 5-Year Outsourcing Agreement With Barclaycard, UK

MUMBAI & NEW YORK – Firstsource Solutions (“Firstsource”), a leading global business process outsourcing (BPO) provider, today announced a five-year outsourcing partnership with Barclaycard, the UK-based credit card and consumer lending business of Barclays PLC. The customer service contract will involve Firstsource managing Barclaycard’s credit card and payment businesses beginning November 1, 2010. 

The partnership is part of Barclaycard’s ongoing program of improving business efficiency and providing a quality service to customers. Firstsource will manage the majority of the services currently provided by the Teesside center, as well as a related payment servicing team located in Wavertree, Merseyside. 

Derek Allgood, global sales and service director, Barclaycard, said: “Firstsource has given us a commitment to establish a long-term presence here in Teesside and, with their global footprint, they are also well placed to meet the current and future needs of our growing international customer base.  We are confident this partnership is the right option for our colleagues, customers and the Barclaycard business.”

Matthew Vallance, CEO and MD of Firstsource, added: “We are delighted to have won this contract from Barclaycard, which reinforces the relationship we already have with Barclaycard in the US, and is an acknowledgement of Firstsource’s expertise in the financial services sector and in particular for credit card services. We look forward to working with the Barclaycard team and to providing excellent customer services for Barclaycard’s customers.”

In February 2008, Firstsource signed a five-year outsourcing agreement with Barclays’ U.S. credit card business.  Under the terms of the agreement, Firstsource is managing and operating Barclays’ operations center in Colorado Springs, CO., which includes providing customer care and collection’s support to Barclays U.S. cardholders.

Firstsource obtains 24 percent of its global revenues from the financial services sector, providing an extensive range of back-office, customer management and collections services, spanning retail banking, mortgage, bank cards, insurance, custody and research & analytics. Firstsource’s financial services clients include several leading banks in the U.S., UK and India and eight of the top 10 U.S. credit card companies.

About Barclaycard
Barclaycard, part of Barclays Global Retail Banking division, is a leading global payment business which helps consumers, retailers and businesses to make and accept payments flexibly, and to access short-term credit when needed.

The company is one of the pioneers of new forms of payments and is at the forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for today and cutting edge forms of payment for the future.  It also issues credit and charge cards to corporate customers and the UK Government.  Barclaycard partners with a wide range of organisations across the globe to offer their customers or members payment options and credit. In addition to the UK, Barclaycard operates in the United States, Europe and Africa.

About Firstsource
Firstsource is a leading global provider of customized BPO services to the Telecom & Media, Banking & Financial Services and Healthcare industries. Its clients include Fortune 500, FTSE 100 & Nifty 50 companies. Firstsource has a “rightshore” delivery model with operations in India, US, UK and Philippines. (www.firstsource.com).