Absa Group is committed to building on Barclays' heritage in Africa and the strengths that we already have on the continent. We have a deep history and local knowledge in Seychelles. Our main products and services haven’t changed. Our customers can bank with us as confidently as they always have.

While Barclays continues to have a significant stake in Absa Group, it’s no longer our majority shareholder and we’re separating our operations in Africa from those of Barclays PLC. This change, which is currently in progress, has given us an opportunity to rollout a name and brand that reflects our identity in Africa, and to unite behind a single brand and purpose which is to bring possibility to life.

We know how important a decision like this is, and, before coming to any conclusions, we consulted widely with employees, customers, regulators and other stakeholders across the continent. The outcome of these discussions was that we needed one brand to unite all our operations across Africa. The Absa brand is already well-established and well-known in parts of Africa, and has strong African and international banking credentials.

The cost of implementing and communicating this rebranding has been carefully planned. The cost will be paid by our company, and will not be passed on to you now or in the future.

You do not need to do anything as a result of the changes you’re seeing. Your products and services will not be impacted by our name change. You can look forward to a new, refreshed banking experience with us once we’ve changed to the Absa name.

All new cards issued will be under the Absa brand from 10 February 2020.

Additionally, the re-issuing of both debit and credit cards will take place in a ‘phased out approach’ in which customers will be contacted to come and replace their Barclays card for an Absa branded one. The ‘Phased out approach’ will be organised in a way that customers whose cards are expiring, will being contacted first.

We are advising customers to bring along their Barclays cards when coming to replace it with the new Absa branded one.

Customers who have lost their card can come to the Card Centre at Capital City for a new Absa one. Note that as per the normal process, customers will have to pay SCR 100 for a new card (if lost or stolen).

No, our brand change will not directly affect your existing products or services. In fact, now that we are Absa Bank in Seychelles, you can look forward to new and innovative products and services.

You will need to download our new Absa-branded banking app from your Google Play store or Apple App store.

No, you will not be required to change your banking details at any point during our brand change process. However, we urge you to be particularly vigilant during this time, as fraudsters are always looking for opportunity to obtain important personal information by masquerading as your bank. They may use our brand change as an opportunity to ask you to change your details. Such messages do not come from us – your bank account details (including account number and branch code) will not change.

There will be no change to your current loan agreement with Barclays. The contracts won’t require change now or in the future.

We urge customers to be particularly vigilant during this time, as fraudsters are always looking for opportunity to obtain important personal information. We will not be asking customers for any information nor will we need them to update any of their personal account information or details as a result of this change. We have made a concerted effort to ensure that safety and anti-fraud messaging is included in all our communications around our name change.