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This is a list of banks operating in the United Kingdom.

Central bank

The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom.

The Big Four

British banking has been highly consolidated since the early 20th century. Unlike some other major economies, the UK does not have a major stratum of independent local banks. The number of independent banks shrank further during 2008: Northern Rock was nationalised by the UK Government (and is now owned by Virgin Money), followed by Bradford & Bingley; Alliance & Leicester was acquired by Santander, who merged it into Santander UK. On 18 September 2008, Lloyds TSB plc entered into a confirmed agreement to take over HBOS plc (HBOS plc included Halifax Bank and The Bank of Scotland), which took effect on 19 January 2009, when HBOS was acquired and folded into Lloyds Banking Group.

The retail and commercial banking markets are dominated by HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group in addition to Spanish-owned Santander UK which some people argue should be apart of the "Big 4" making it the big 5, however its Spanish origins hinder its credibility as a British bank despite its ability to act autonomously and independently from the Spanish bank itself as it is "managed by its own local team and is responsible solely for its performance away from its Spanish owners" (most of these companies operate more than one banking brand in the UK). As well as this, the Nationwide Building Society (commonly referred to as "Nationwide"), and Standard Chartered both make compelling arguments to be the fifth and sixth members of the elite group with both banks even surpassing one or two of the "Big 4" Banks in some areas of performance. In addition to this the Bank of England is also an extremely high performer in global banking but its private and state-run status keeps it out of the "Big 4" as the group is solely reserved for private companies, all of which are listed on the London Stock Exchange as of 2024.

The largest of the "Big 4" banks in every relevant metric is HSBC Holding (the HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) which, despite its name, is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, with historical links to business in East Asia. It is the largest bank in Europe and the 7th largest in the world by total AUM (assets under management) and 9th largest in the world by market cap.

1. Includes Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland (including Halifax, Birmingham Midshires and Intelligent Finance).
2. Includes NatWest, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank. The UK government owns a stake of 10.9% of NatWest Group's ordinary shares, but the bank remains nominally independent of government

Retail banks

These banks provide retail services to the general public. Retail banks are usually known as High street banks as they traditionally had multiple branch locations in the cities and towns across the UK. However 40% of branches closed between 2012 and 2022 . Four British retail banks have never had a physical branch presence.

The retail and commercial banking markets are dominated by five big banks. HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group and Spanish-owned Santander UK who operate more than one banking brand in the UK.

Retail banks owned by retailers

There are a number of other retail banking businesses owned by retailers including:

• Post Office Money, the trading name used by Post Office Ltd for its branded financial products, most of which are provided by Bank of Ireland UK.
• Sainsbury's Bank, owned by British supermarket company Sainsbury's.

Former

• Tesco Bank, which was acquired by Barclays on 1 November 2024 from Tesco.
• Harrods Bank, which was acquired by Tandem Money Limited on 11 January 2018.

Building societies in the UK

The other main class of consumer financial service organisation in the United Kingdom is the building society. The building society sector has become much smaller with fewer building societies. This was caused, firstly, a number of building societies demutualising in the 1980s and 1990s and subsequently, taken over by banks. Secondly, there has been ongoing consolidation via mergers between societies.

There are 42 building societies in the UK as of 2021 which provide retail banking services to the general public. The five largest as of October 2020 are:

UK banking brands owned by foreign banks

• Allied Irish Bank (GB) and First Trust Bank, owned by AIB Group of the Republic of Ireland
• Al Rayan Bank, owned by Masraf Al Rayan of Qatar
• Axis Bank UK, owned by Axis Bank of India
• Bank of Ceylon (UK), owned by Bank of Ceylon of Sri Lanka
• Bank of Baroda (UK), owned by Bank of Baroda of India
• Bank of China (UK), owned by Bank of China
• Bank of India (UK), owned by Bank of India
• Bank Sepah International plc, owned by Bank Sepah of Iran
• FCMB Bank (UK) Limited, owned by First City Monument Bank of Nigeria
• Zenith Bank (UK), owned by Zenith Bank of Nigeria
• Bank of Ireland UK, owned by Bank of Ireland of the Republic of Ireland; one of the leading banks in Northern Ireland, and present in Great Britain to a lesser extent
• Citibank (UK), owned by Citigroup of the United States
• ICBC (London) plc, by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
• ICICI Bank (UK), owned by ICICI Bank of India
• Danske Bank (formerly Northern Bank), owned by Danske Bank of Denmark
• Habib Bank UK, owned by Habib Bank of Pakistan
• Punjab National Bank (International), owned by Punjab National Bank of India
• RCI Bank UK, owned by RCI Banque SA
• Santander UK (formerly Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley), owned by Santander Group of Spain
• SEB (UK), owned by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, Sweden
• State Bank of India (UK), owned by State Bank of India
• Svenska Handelsbanken, UK Branch
• The Bank of East Asia, UK Branch
• TSB Bank, part of Sabadell Group, headquartered in Spain
• Union Bank of India (UK) Ltd, owned by Union Bank of India of India
• United Bank UK, owned by United Bank Limited of Pakistan

Banks incorporated in the UK

A full list of businesses considered banks by the Prudential Regulation Authority are listed in the table below. The list is based on the definition of 'bank' in the glossary of the PRA Handbook.

There is also a government-run savings bank called National Savings and Investments.

See also

• 2008 United Kingdom bank rescue package
• 2009 United Kingdom bank rescue package
• Banking in the United Kingdom
• Building society
• List of banks in Europe
• List of building societies in the United Kingdom
• Category:Banks of British Overseas Territories
• Category:Defunct banks of the United Kingdom

Notes

1. Includes Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland (including Halifax, Birmingham Midshires and Intelligent Finance).
2. Includes NatWest, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank. The UK government owns a stake of 22.5% of NatWest Group's ordinary shares, but the bank remains nominally independent of government

References

1. "Lloyds TSB confirms deal to take over HBOS". 18 September 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
2. "Recommended acquisition of HBOS plc by Lloyds TSB Group plc" (PDF). Lloyds TSB. 17 September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
3. BBC News: HBOS confirms Lloyds merger talks; Guardian: Banking crisis: Lloyds TSB in talks to buy HBOS
4. "Statista - Leading banks in Europe as of May 2019, by market capitalization". Statista. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
5. "Statista - Leading banks in Europe 2018, by total assets". Statista. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
6. "Taxpayer no longer majority NatWest shareholder". NatWest Group. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
7. "RBS shares plunge on record loss". Natwest Group. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
8. House of Commons Library https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8570/CBP-8570.pdf
9. "Atom Bank: total assets 2019". Statista. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
10. "Atom Bank Annual Report 19-20" (PDF).
11. "Annual Report 2024". Monzo. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
12. "Taxpayer no longer majority NatWest shareholder". BBC News. 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
13. "RBS shares plunge on record loss". BBC News. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
14. "Starling Bank Assets 2024" (PDF).
15. "Tandem Bank: total assets 2018". Statista. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
16. "The Cooperative Bank Annual Report for Year ended 2020" (PDF). 8 June 2021.
17. "Britain's Tesco intends to return $902.5 mln via additional share buyback". Reuters. November 1, 2024.
18. "Tandem Bank completes purchase Of Harrods Bank". Reuters. January 11, 2018.
19. "Sneddon, Hutchison Burt, (17 April 1929–7 November 2009), JP; Lord-Lieutenant of Lanarkshire, 1992–99; former Scottish Divisional Director, Nationwide Anglia Building Society (formerly Nationwide Building Society)". Who Was Who. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u35562. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
20. "Banks & building societies lists - Bank of England". www.bankofengland.co.uk.
21. "New banks authorised since 2013". Bank of England. Retrieved 26 September 2023.

External links

• List of active banks in the United Kingdom with swift codes
• List of the Electronic Money Institutions (EMI) licensed in the United Kingdom
• Electronic Money Institutions (EMI) for business in the United Kingdom
• BBA - British Bankers' Association - BBA member banks
• Bank of England Prudential Regulation Authority - banks & building societies list (updated monthly)

• Banks of the United Kingdom
• Lists of banks by country
• Lists of companies of the United Kingdom by industry
• Lists of banks in Europe