The deal with see the bank transfer the debt from its branded credit card programme in the US to Blackstone’s credit and insurance segments, which were consolidated last September.
Barclays says the transaction is part of a move to release around £1 billion in risk-weighted assets (RWAs), and that it will use the proceeds of the sale to fund an extension of the lending activities it operates through its US consumer bank.
The deal marks an active use of the bank’s strategic partnerships to “execute risk transfer agreements to reduce capital requirements”, according to Anna Cross, group finance director at Barclays.
