The Unite trade union said its members were informed by the bank of the decision.

"We continue to review and adapt our operations based on the ways customers are choosing to interact with us," a Barclays spokesperson said. "We are committed to supporting colleagues through this change, working closely with Unite."

Reuters reported on Friday that Barclays was preparing to cut around 400 jobs in its retail bank, citing a source familiar with the matter, alongside hundreds of potential layoffs of underperformers in its investment bank.

Unite said in a statement that the job losses were "unnecessary and unjustified."

"This isn't an organization struggling to survive, this bank is making billions of pounds of profits," said Unite national officer Dominic Hook.

Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan is separately embarking on a wider strategy review, amid some investor dissatisfaction at the bank's underperformance relative to Wall Street investment banks.