Barclays Business Abroad explained

BBA is a package of features and discounts that make it easier to export, which Steve Childs, National Head of International Banking SME, describes as a ‘one-stop shop that will help you overcome the barriers to trading internationally.’

Breaking down those barriers is becoming more important than ever as technology opens up the global market.

‘For some businesses, particularly with e-commerce, the first order they take may not be from the UK,’ says Steve. ‘The ‘accidental exporter’ is becoming more common.’

Businesses that have BBA benefit from 2 main elements – the discounts and tools contained in the package, and our support. With a team of over 60 International Managers focused on helping more businesses, that’s considerable support.

‘They can give individual support around issues such as customs clearing and e-marketplaces,’ says Steve. ‘It underpins the whole offering.’

There are 3 significant discounts available covering important export processes.

The first is a discount of 60% with DHL Express Ltd. Steve says this is particularly useful for e-commerce traders that need to ship products around the world: ‘DHL provides logistics support and help with customs, to make sure your products get where they’re supposed to be.'

BBA also provides a 20% discount on Coface trade credit insurance, which allows customers to insure their exposure to suppliers and clients, and there’s a 25% discount on Acorn Interactive’s document preparation service.

‘It can be difficult to know all the documents you need, and you may need different documents depending on the product or the country you’re shipping to,’ says Steve.

There’s also a 10% discount on Acorn’s Letter of Credit service, which helps customers with these often complex documents.

‘60% of Letters of Credit get rejected on first-time presentation at a bank,’ says Steve. ‘This service helps ensure that first-time presentation will be successful, and if it isn’t there is no charge to the customer.’

If you do your business banking with us, all this is available at no extra cost.

The tools contained in BBA all work to make trading abroad easier. There are 3 main ones to note:

• The ability to send money to almost any country in the world, so you can pay and get paid
• The ability to hold a currency account in up to 60 different currencies, helping customers to manage their foreign exchange rate needs
• Free to download and easy to use, the FX powered by Barclays app offers live, indicative foreign exchange rates, conversion and more in the palm of your hand. Whether you’re just looking for a quick conversion or to monitor these indicative rates closely, this has everything you need¹

For more details about Barclays Business Abroad:

• Explore BBA and find out how to request a call back from one of our specialist international managers or live chat with us
• Ask your Business Relationship team for more information