Banking group Barclays today took the first steps towards establishing its Barclaycard operation in the United States credit card market.
The move comes after Barclays said it had agreed to acquire Juniper Financial Corporation for 293 million (£160.7 million) from US bank CIBC.
Juniper, which has 700,000 accounts and total lending of 1.4 billion US dollars (£769 million), provides credit cards and services to US companies and non-profit agencies.
The majority of its credit cards are given the brands of its customers, which include Best Western, Gulf Petroleum and Midwest Airlines.
Barclays said the business would be incorporated within its overseas division of Barclaycard with the UK brand possibly set to be introduced into the US market in the future.
The bank vowed to inject investment into Juniper and expected it to make a ''significant contribution'' to operating profits at Barclaycard within three years.
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