Firstsource bags $80 mn deal from Barclays

Firstsource Solutions, a business process outsourcing firm, bagged a five-year $80 million (around Rs 320 crore) outsourcing deal with Barclays plc.

Firstsource will manage and operate Barclays operations centre in Colorado Springs (US) and provide customer care and collections support to Barclays US cardholders.

The partnership is expected to provide Barclays increased operational efficiency and help both companies expand their US operations.

"We will continue to have the operations from Colorado Springs as it allows us access to existing skillsets. Besides for existing operations, we do not think there is a need to offshore. However, this deal does allow the flexibility for business growth and bring in other customers as well," said Rajesh Subramaniam, CFO, Firstsource.

Ananda Mukerji, MD & CEO of Firstsource, said, "This is an ideal partnership for Firstsource and Barclays. For Barclays, Firstsource will apply best practices honed from years of collaboration with other major financial institutions to increase efficiency, productivity and customer satisfaction. For Firstsource, the addition of Barclays adds another top institution to its financial services practice."

While analysts have predicted that the subprime meltdown could crossover to credit card default, Subramaniam feels otherwise.

"There is stress in the credit environment, however, we are not affected by it as we already have an existing card asset base. This deal takes into consideration the entire management of customer life-cycle," he added.

Firstsource currently has nearly 2,500 employees and more than a dozen operations centres in the US and provides customised business process management solutions to leading US companies in the financial services, telecom and healthcare space.