What an odd comment. Barclays have brought a product to market, which (presumably on the basis of at least some market research) they believe will make money. Just like any product from any other vendor. The idea that a vendor should be "ashamed of themselves" for bringing a new product to market seems very strange. People will buy the product or not, depending on how they feel it fits their needs.

As a consumer, how are you disadvantaged by a vendor bringing to market a product which does not fit your needs ? Why is it not a matter of complete indifference to you ? If the product is not appealing to you, then don't buy it.

Barclays Premier has been around under that name since at least the mid-90s. I don't know about "failing to compete with HSBC", but IMHO it offered good value for customers willing to pay a little extra for personal service. I definitely got extremely responsive service; just one call was all it took to get pretty much anything sorted out - and having a direct line to a named individual who knew who you were and would take ownership of getting something done was a big step up from the standard "free banking" service provided by the UK majors at the time. Certainly not comparable with what you get from wealth management type services, but this was a product offered to middle income customers.