To ensure that in this recession they do not burn there hands in personal loan segment, Barclay's shuts its retail division personal loan disbursal's this month.

Barclay's was disbursing 100cr plus personal loan through it Nbfc till last month. With its Nbfc Barclay's finance it had opened up  some 50 plus branches and was catering to both Salaried and self employed Personal loan seekers.

Will more Banks shut down there personal loan disbursal's in this recession is a question being asked.In the last recession ICICI, Standard Chartered, Deutsche either shut down or ensured they had a strong policy in which very few would have been eligible.In last one year Standard Chartered, Bajaj Finance lending etc are trying to take up the market share and have 100 cr plus disbursal's on month and month basis.

Personal loan segment gets 3-10% yield for banks but if default rates rise then this segment really gets hit. HDFC Bank is last 3-5 years has been on number one place because of its branch network and its ability to control defaults.

Barclay's Bank decision to shut down personal loan was to focus on wealth management and other core activities.