Barclays is bankrolling Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians through its financial ties with arms companies that sell weapons to Israel. Our research has found that Barclays now invests over £2 billion in, and provides financial services worth £6.1 billion to, companies arming Israel.
We’re calling on all concerned people to boycott all Barclays services. Already this year, almost 5000 people have closed their Barclays accounts as part of mass account closure days.
Barclays has acquired ownership of Tesco Bank. We are therefore calling on all Tesco Bank customers to shut their accounts, and join the next mass account closure day.
We’re asking everyone who holds a Barclays account to pledge to close it on the 7th mass account closure day, Thursday 23 January 2025, to have the most impact. Barclays NEEDS TO KNOW that you are boycotting it, and to know why, so we’ve set up a simple way for you to inform the bank.
I have an account with Barclays: Click here to pledge to close your Barclays account on 23 January 2025
I have an account with Tesco Bank: Click here to pledge to close your Tesco Bank account on 23 January 2025
I don’t have an account with Barclays: Click here to tell Barclays senior management that you will boycott the bank.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why boycott Barclays? Our research has identified Barclays holds substantial financial ties with companies arming Israel. The bank invests over £2bn in, and provides financial services worth over £6.1bn to, companies supplying weapons and military technology to Israel, used in its attacks on Palestinians. Since July 2022, we’ve been campaigning for Barclays to end its financial ties with companies arming Israel, but the bank isn’t listening. We’re therefore calling on people in Britain to boycott the bank to send Barclays senior management a clear message: complicity in Israeli apartheid has a cost. Thousands of concerned people will refuse to use your services.
Why boycott Tesco Bank? On 1 November 2024, Barclays acquired ownership of Tesco Bank. This means that Barclays owns and is operating under the Tesco Bank brand. We are therefore calling on all Tesco Bank customers to shut their accounts as part of the boycott of Barclays.
How easy is it to close a bank account? It’s straight forward. 5000 people have already taken action and closed their account as part of the collective account closure days. If you have a current account with Barclays, the free Current Account Switch Service makes it easy to switch to a different provider and transfer all your payments in one go. It is available to use for both personal and business current accounts. To find out more about closing a savings account with Barclays, visit its website here.
Who should I bank with instead? This is entirely up to you. Unfortunately, most high-street banks hold financial ties with companies complicit in Israeli apartheid. Our research has identified Barclays as a major financier of companies arming Israel, it is therefore the current target of our campaign. This account closure action aims to force Barclays to end its financial ties with companies arming Israel. It is a form of collective action aimed to put pressure on Barclays senior management as part of our ongoing campaign. Therefore, to take part in the action, you just need to switch away from Barclays. Boycott and divestment campaigns work through collective concerted pressure on a few targets. The more targets there are, the more diffused the pressure becomes, making it less effective. You may be interested in taking a look at information published by groups like Ethical Consumer, on which high street banks have ties to the destruction of the planet, and human rights abuses.
Why should I wait until 23 January 2025 to close my Barclays bank account? We want as many people as possible to close their account on a single day, to send a clear message to the bank that its complicity in Israeli apartheid has a cost – it will lose a sizable number of its customers who stand with Palestine, and this will have a greater impact if it is on a single day.