Barclays is reportedly to put two of its credit operations up for sale in a move to increase profits at Barclaycard. The businesses to be sold are Monument, a subprime lender with over 500,000 customers in the UK, and Clydesdale Financial Services, which provides store cards for high street retailers such as Next and Karen Millen. Monument is expected to fetch around £750m, while Clydesdale could fetch around £200m. Potential buyers for the Monument business include Provident Financial and US finance groups MBNA and Capital One. Clydesdale is thought likely to go to a private equity buyer.
