Profits down as write offs soar for Barclaycard
Barclycard said that profits dipped 14 per cent to £297 million from £346 million as a result of bad debts. For the whole of 2005, Barclaycard's bad debts jumped 44 per cent to £1.1 billion. Barclay's said it expected the bad debt position to remain 'challenging' in the second half. Like other banks, Barclays has been tightening its lending criteria and is now turning down around 50 per cent of all credit card applications.
The slump in Barclaycard came as Barclays announced a 37 per cent jump in first half pre tax profits to £3.67 billion despite a 50 per cent rise in overall bad debts to £1.06 billion | 
