Helping Barclays customers to stay safe in multiple languages

Sector: Banking and financial services

Language: English, Hindi, Arabic and Japanese

Service: Multimedia Production (Digital Humans) with Human Translation & Localisation

Watch the film: Barclays Invoice & CEO Fraud (Hindi)

Barclays: pioneering public fraud awareness

Barclays is a pioneer in practical public fraud awareness. Its work includes the Business Fraud Alliance, a National initiative with the Fraud Advisory Panel to raise awareness of fraud threats and equip UK businesses with the tools to protect themselves. Together with Barclays’ consumer guidance and data-led Scams Bulletin, this demonstrates a sustained commitment to clear, practical fraud prevention. Against this backdrop, Barclays selected Guildhawk as an approved supplier of multilingual media productions, recognising its experience in safety content for regulated sectors.

The Challenge

Barclays operates in many international markets, but much of its fraud guidance existed in English. Barclays decided to make information accessible to customers in more languages. 

Invoice and CEO impersonation fraud are among the most damaging threats. A supposed supplier asks for payment to new bank details, or an apparent senior executive demands an urgent transfer. Business customers are generally not reimbursed for these losses in the way personal customers are, so prevention is their main protection.

Barclays wanted short explainer videos, presented by credible digital humans, that customers could watch in their own time. Each version had to:

• read accurately in the local language, with correct banking and fraud terminology
• respect local cultural expectations, including the choice of presenter
• follow Barclays' brand guidelines, which vary across its businesses
• be accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers
• meet Barclays' AI governance requirements
• be quick to update and replicate as fraud tactics change

The Solution

• Brand-led English master. Guildhawk produced an English master series with a digital human presenter and synthetic voice, built to Barclays' brand guidelines. Barclays' review rounds refined brand colours and imagery before sign-off.
• Culturally appropriate presenters. Barclays chose a mix of male and female presenters. Native linguists advised on the right presenter and tone for each market.
• Expert translation. Once the master was approved, native linguists translated the scripts into Hindi, Arabic and Japanese, checking banking and fraud terminology so each warning reads clearly to local customers.
• Protected approved content. The approved English master was locked, so local review focused on language accuracy and kept every version consistent with the original warnings.
• Voice, lip-sync and on-screen text. Each language version was voiced and lip-synced on the digital human, with on-screen text in the local language, set right-to-left for Arabic.
  
• Accessible, fraud-safe design. Key messages appear as on-screen text, so viewers can follow the warning without sound. Contact details are shown as text, and QR codes were deliberately avoided because fraudsters exploit them.
  
• Governed use of AI. The process is human-led, with AI playing a limited, specific role. It passed Barclays' AI governance review, and linguists and video editors checked every AI-generated asset before delivery.
• Secure delivery. All work ran inside Guildhawk's ISO 27001 confidentiality framework.

The Results

• Four language versions delivered: English, Hindi, Arabic and Japanese.
• Approved through Barclays' governance: the series passed brand, AI governance and procurement review.
• Live in market: Barclays has published the series on its international sites, starting with Japan.
• No studio production: no shoots, presenter bookings or recording sessions were needed in any market.
• Ready to evolve: scripts can be edited and films regenerated as fraud tactics change.

Why this matters for banks and financial services

A fraud warning protects customers only if they understand it and trust the presenter. Literal or machine-translated terms weaken the warning and expose the bank to compliance risk. So does a presenter who feels out of place in the local culture.

Banks that brief a scriptwriter, a video studio, a translation agency and a subtitling house separately carry that risk across every handover. They also pay for a new shoot each time a scam evolves.

Guildhawk produces the master, localises it and verifies every version as one accountable process. Native linguists work in each language, and every AI-generated asset is reviewed by people. Because the presenter is a digital human, the same series can be updated and reissued in every market without a new production.

About Guildhawk

Guildhawk is a British language-solutions company headquartered in the City of London and trusted by regulated industries since 2001. It manages the production of multilingual compliance content at scale, supported by a global network of more than 3,000 vetted linguists and creative specialists working across more than 200 languages. At the forefront of combining human expertise with ethical AI, Guildhawk delivers accurate, secure and effective results for clients. Guildhawk is ISO 27001 certified, a Queen’s Award winner and a 2025 Safety and Security Entrepreneur Awards winner, with every project managed within its secure ISO 27001 confidentiality framework.