Absa Group Limited (ABGL; formerly Barclays Africa Group Limited), and originally Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, is a South African-based financial services group, offering personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management, as well as bank assurance. ABGL in 2020 was the majority shareholder of 11 banks located in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania (two entities), Uganda and Zambia. The group maintains representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria and also has an international office in London and New York City. As of October 2019, Absa Group Limited had assets of US$91 billion. History Barclays Africa Limited (1991-2017) Absa was founded in 1991 through the merger of financial service providers United Bank (South Africa), the Allied Bank (Souths of the Sage Group. The following year, Absa acquired the entire shareholding of the Bankorp Group which included Trustbank, Senbank and Bankfin. In the early years of this union, each bank operated under its own name. In 1998, they were fused into one single brand. A year later, Absa adopted a new corporate identity and the name was changed into Absa Group Limited. In May 2005, Barclays Bank of the United Kingdom purchased 56.4% stake in Absa. In early 2007, the Barclays Bank acquisition of Absa was criticized by the governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Tito Mboweni who said he "had yet to see the benefits of Barclays' management of Absa". Bank charges (2005-2012) Finweek Bank Charges Reports from 2008 through 2010 found Absa Group Limited to be the most expensive bank in South Africa. Pay-as-you-transact (PAYT) fees increased 82% from 2005 to 2010. The 2012, Finweek Bank Charges Report ranked Absa's Gold Value Bundle as the cheapest package option amongst the four banks that were compared. The report has also shown Absa's PAYT pricing structure to have reduced by 25% by 2013, leaving it third cheapest in the overall ranking at that time. In 2013, the group acquired the entire issued share capital of Barclays Africa Limited and issued 129,540,636 Consideration Shares to Barclays Africa Group Holdings Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays) thus increasing the shareholding of Barclays plc to 62.3%. The Consideration Shares were listed on the JSE from the commencement of trading on 31 July 2013. The name change from “ABSA Group Limited” to “Barclays Africa Group Limited” was completed in August 2013. In 2017, the