Three of the UK’s ‘big four’ banking groups have reported their gender pay figures, with Barclays International – its corporate banking business and investment division – publishing a 43.5% median pay gap.
Men in its Barclays UK division – which includes retail banking, consumer credit cards and corporate credit cards – were paid on average 14.2% more than women last year, while holding company Barclays Group Service Company had a median gender pay gap of 29.9%.
Meanwhile, Lloyds Bank reported a 42.7% median gender pay gap for 2017 when subsidiaries Cheltenham & Gloucester and HBOS were taken out of the equation. When these divisions were considered, it had a 32.8% disparity between male and female hourly pay.
Gender pay gap reporting
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) had the smallest median gender pay gap of the banking groups at 36.5%.
The UK’s second biggest bank – HSBC – was yet to report its gender pay figures.
The three banks suggested that a higher proportion of men in senior roles and a greater percentage of women in junior positions were the main reasons behind the gender pay disparity.
Barclays said in its gender pay gap report: “The impact of this is particularly prevalent in Barclays International, which includes our investment banking business. In Barclays International the proportion of senior staff is higher than typically observed in our other businesses and functions.
“This, together with the pay levels and higher bonus practice observed for these senior revenue generators, amplifies the pay gaps. We know we have more to do to continue accelerating the progression of women into these more senior roles.”
Women took up 19% of positions in the top pay quartile at Barclays International, 29% of senior positions at Barclays Group Service Company, and 45% of top quartile roles at Barclays UK.
More than a third (35.4%) of top quartile positions at Lloyds Banking Group were filled by Women. Jen Tippin, group people and productivity director at Lloyds Banking Group, claimed it had a “comprehensive plan” in place to ensure that women took up 40% of senior management roles by 2020.
She said: “In 2014, we were the first FTSE 100 company to make a public commitment to increase the proportion of women in senior management roles. We have already increased the percentage of senior roles held by women from 29% in 2013 to 34% in 2017.”
RBS claimed it was on track to achieve its target of having women in 40% of in its top three management layers by 2020. Currently, women make up 37% of these roles.
Just over a quarter (25.2%) of positions in RBS’s upper pay quartile were filled by women in 2017.
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“Whilst we are confident we are making progress, we are still on a journey,” RBS chief executive Ross McEwan said in its gender pay gap report. “Our pipeline (around 5000 of our most senior roles) has 44% women. And, we’re aspiring to achieve full gender balance at all levels of our business by 2030.”
According to PwC’s Women in Work Index, the average gender pay gap in the financial services industry was 34% in 2017.
