Barclays PLC is looking to reduce its expenses to provide more returns to shareholders while increasing investment in technology.  

Despite that, the $1.9 trillion bank saw its total operating expenses increase 2% year over year to $4.8 billion in the third quarter, partly driven by investment in tech and talent, according to the bank’s earnings report.

“We will continue to drive further efficiencies and greater productivity for the bank” against “a mixed market backdrop” as the bank looks to reduce expenses in the medium term, Chief Executive V.S. Venkatakrishnan said during the bank’s Q3 earnings call today.  

Barclays is exploring how to improve its digital banking offerings by either developing technology, implementing technology, or building machines to remain competitive and cost-effective, Venkatakrishnan said. 

BY THE NUMBERS: In Q3, Barclays reported: 

• Income of $23.9 billion, up 3% YoY; 
• Net interest income of $3.8 billion, up 5.6%; and 
• U.S. card revenue of $30.2 billion, up 11% YoY. 

NOTEWORTHY: As of Oct. 9, Barclays was in talks to buy Metro Bank’s mortgage portfolio of $3.7 billion as London-based Metro looks to restructure. Metro was also talking with NatWest and Lloyds Bank about its mortgage business. 

London-based Barclays is exploring AI to streamline operational efficiencies, analyze unstructured data and improve chatbot capabilities, Jennifer Warren, head of markets digital strategy at Barclays, said during Bank Automation News webinar series last month. 

Warren was named to the Bank Automation News’ 2024 executives to watch list, published last month. 

FLASHBACK: In March 2022, Barclays provided a $300 million revolving credit facility to payroll fintech DailyPay, which teamed up with BMO Financial Group last month to provide the bank’s customers with early wage access. 

Barclays has been working with Amazon Web Services to use the IT provider’s technology to move its call center from on-premises to Amazon’s managed call center platform. 

AWS has also been providing cloud-based tools, such as Amazon’s Alexa platform, for automated chat services to Barclay’s customers. 

MARKET REACTION: Shares of Barclays [NYSE: BCS] were down 6.98% from market open to $6.53 as of market close today. Barclays has a market capitalization of $26.52 billion.