1900 To 1980
Between 1905 and 1916 Barclays extended its branch network by making acquisitions of small English banks. Further expansion followed in 1918 when Barclays amalgamated with the London, Provincial and South Western Bank and in 1919 when the British Linen Bank was acquired by Barclays Bank, although the British Linen Bank retained a separate board of directors and continued to issue its own bank notes (see Banknotes of the pound sterling). Then in 1924 the planned takeover of National Bank of Kingston reached near-completion but was halted three days before finalisation.
In 1965, Barclays established a US affiliate, Barclays Bank of California in San Francisco.
Barclays launched the first credit card in the UK, Barclaycard, in 1966. On 27 June 1967, Barclays deployed the world's first cash machine, in Enfield, north London. The British actor Reg Varney was the first one to use the machine.
In 1969, a planned merger with Martins Bank and Lloyds Bank was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission but the acquisition of Martins Bank on its own was allowed. Also that year the British Linen Bank subsidiary was sold to the Bank of Scotland in exchange for a 25% stake, a transaction that became effective from March 1971.
In August 1975, following the secondary banking crash, Barclays acquired Mercantile Credit Company.