List of banks in the United Kingdom

This article is about banks operating in the United Kingdom. For the development of the banking industry, see Banking in the United Kingdom.

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.

Retail banks

Further information: Big Four (banking) § United Kingdom

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 .^[1]

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 retail and commercial banking market in the UK are dominated by the "Big Four": HSBC UK, Barclays UK, Lloyds Banking Group, and NatWest Group — all of which operate more than one banking brand within the UK.

Alongside the Big Four, Santander UK is the only other bank that is a ring-fenced body (RFB) under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).^[2] However, its Spanish origins hinder its recognition as a part of the "Big 4" making it the Big 5. That is 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".^{[citation needed]} As well as this, the Nationwide Building Society (commonly referred to as "Nationwide"), and Standard Chartered are both candidates to be members of the group, although Standard Chartered does not operate a retail bank in the UK.^{[citation needed]}

Four British retail banks have never had a physical branch presence.

The number of independent banks shrank during 2008: Northern Rock was nationalised by the UK Government and then sold to Virgin Money, which was acquired by Nationwide in 2024.^[3] 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.^[4][5][6] TSB was spun out of Lloyds.

Size of Retail Banking Entities in the UK (2024 - Q1 2025)

Rank	Bank	Year established	Headquarters	Total assets (£bn)	Staff	Branches in UK
1 (4)	Barclays UK[a]	1690	London, England	Ring-fenced: 303.179[b] Non-ring-fenced: 1,218.524[c] Total assets: 1,518.202[d]	41,988[e]	347
2 (3)	HSBC UK[f]	1836[g]	Birmingham, England	Ring-fenced: 340.9[h] Non-ring-fenced: 727.33[i] Total assets: 1,068.207[j]	31,490[k]	527[l]
3 (1)	Lloyds Banking Group[m]	2009	Edinburgh, Scotland: registered office London, England: operational headquarters	Ring-fenced: 611.213[n] / 331.084[o] Non-ring-fenced: 94.972[p] Total assets: 906.7[q]	86,934[r]	757
4 (2)	NatWest Group[s]	1968	Edinburgh, Scotland	Ring-fenced: 489.008[t] Non-ring-fenced: 183.2[u] / 37.461[v] Total assets: 708.0[w]	60,476[x]	470
5	Santander UK[y]	2010	London, England	Ring-fenced: 259.9[z] Non-ring-fenced: 7.087[aa] Total assets: 266.987[ab]	19,500	349
6	Virgin Money UK[ac]	2015	Glasgow, Scotland	89.797[7]	7,166	91
7	TSB Bank	2013[ad]	Edinburgh, Scotland	46.099[8]	5,426	175
	Revolut[ae]	2015	London, England	25.84[af]	10,133	Online only
8	The Co-operative Bank	1872	Manchester, England	25.48[9]	3,350	50
9	Chase UK	2021	London, England	20.0[10]	1,000[11]	Online only
10	Bank of Ireland UK	1783	London, England	18.611[12]	1,700
11	Monzo	2015	London, England	18.3[13]	3,821	Online only
12	Metro Bank	2010	London, England	17.582[14]	3,000	76
13	Starling Bank	2014	London, England	15.6[15]	3,939	Online only
14	Danske Bank UK	1824	Belfast, Northern Ireland	13.69 (2023)[ag]	1,400	24
15	Atom Bank	2013	Durham, England	7.2[16]	504[17]	Online only
16	Tandem Bank	2015	London, England	3.25[18]		Online only

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.^[19]

Former

• Tesco Bank, which was acquired by Barclays on 1 November 2024 from Tesco.^[20]
• Harrods Bank, which was acquired by Tandem Money Limited on 11 January 2018.^[21]

Building societies

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 June 2025, which provide retail banking services to the general public.^[2] The five largest as of October 2020 are:

Name	Year Est.	Headquarters	Total Assets (£bn)	Employees	Branches
Nationwide Building Society[ah]	1846	Swindon, England	367.9[22]	17,680	606
Coventry Building Society	1884	Coventry, England	62[23]	2,700	89
Yorkshire Building Society (also own Chelsea Building Society, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, Accord Mortgages and Egg)	1864	Bradford, England	39.6	3,300	231
Skipton Building Society	1853	Skipton, England	17.5	1,772	98
Leeds Building Society	1875	Leeds, England	20.8	1,426	65

National Savings and Investments

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

Regulated banks

UK banks

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) regulates 152 UK banks as of February 2025 that are authorised to accept deposits.^[2] These include banks that have their headquarters in the UK, and banks with foreign headquarters that operate in the UK through a subsidiary.

Non-UK banks

The PRA regulates 119 non-UK banks, as of June 2025, that are incorporated outside the UK and authorised to accept deposits through a branch in the UK.^[2]

Gibraltar banks

There are seven banks incorporated in Gibraltar authorised to accept deposits through a branch or service in the UK.^[2]

SRO banks

There are eight banks incorporated in the EEA authorised to accept deposits through a branch in the UK while in Supervised Run Off (SRO).^[2]

See also

• Banks portal

• 2008 United Kingdom bank rescue package
• 2009 United Kingdom bank rescue package
• Banking in the United Kingdom
• Building society
• Credit unions in the United Kingdom
• List of banks in Europe
• List of building societies in the United Kingdom
• Category:Banks of dependent territories of the United Kingdom
• Category:Defunct banks of the United Kingdom

Notes

1. Includes Barclays UK, Barclays UK Corporate Bank, Barclays Private Bank and Wealth Management and Barclays Investment Bank.
2. Barclays Bank UK PLC, the ring-fenced UK entity of Barclays PLC, reported total assets of £303.179bn as of 2024.
3. Barclays Bank PLC, the non-ring-fenced UK entity of Barclays PLC, reported total assets of £1,218.524bn as of 2024.
4. The sum of the total assets of Barclays Bank UK PLC and Barclays Bank PLC, amounting to £1,521.703bn, does not reflect the elimination of intercompany transactions, balances, or assets as required under IFRS 10. The total assets of Barclays PLC consolidated annual report figure of £1,518.202bn as of 2024.
5. Total amounts for ring-fenced and non-ring-fenced (may include temporary staff) entities during 2024.
6. Includes HSBC UK (including HSBC Private Bank (UK)), first direct and M&S Bank and non-ring-fenced bank, HSBC Bank plc.
7. formerly Midland Bank
8. HSBC UK Bank plc, the ring-fenced UK entity of HSBC Group, reported total assets of £340.9bn as of 2024.
9. HSBC Bank plc, the non-ring-fenced UK entity of HSBC Group, reported total assets of £727.33bn as of 2024.
10. The sum of the total assets of HSBC UK Bank plc and HSBC Bank plc, amounting to £1,068.207bn, does not reflect the elimination of intercompany transactions, balances, or assets as required under IFRS 10.
11. Total amounts for ring-fenced and non-ring-fenced (may include temporary staff) entities during 2024.
12. Includes 93 Full Service Branch, 83 Cash Service Branch, 152 Digital Service Branch, 179 Banking Hub and 10 Cash Hub
13. Includes Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland (including Halifax).
14. Lloyds Bank plc, the ring-fenced UK entity of Lloyds Banking Group plc, reported total assets of £611.213bn as of 2024.
15. Bank of Scotland plc (including the Halifax and MBNA businesses), the ring-fenced UK entity of Lloyds Banking Group plc, reported total assets of £331.084bn as of 2024.
16. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc, the non-ring-fenced UK entity of Lloyds Banking Group plc, reported total assets of £94.972bn as of 2024.
17. The sum of the total assets of Lloyds Bank plc, Bank of Scotland plc, and Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc amounting to £1037.269bn, does not reflect the elimination of intercompany transactions, balances, or assets as required under IFRS 10. The total assets of Lloyds Banking Group plc consolidated annual report figure of £906.7bn as of 2024.
18. Total amounts for ring-fenced and non-ring-fenced (may include temporary staff) entities during 2024.
19. Includes NatWest, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank.
20. NatWest Holdings Limited, the ring-fenced UK entity of NatWest Group plc, reported total assets of £489.008bn as of 2024.
21. NatWest Markets Plc, the non-ring-fenced UK entity of NatWest Group plc, reported total assets of £183.2bn as of 2024.
22. The Royal Bank of Scotland International (Holdings) Limited (Jersey), the non-ring-fenced UK entity of NatWest Group plc, reported total assets of £37.461bn as of 2024.
23. The sum of the total assets of NatWest Holdings Limited, The Royal Bank of Scotland International (Holdings) Limited (Jersey), and NatWest Markets Plc, amounting to £709.669bn, does not reflect the elimination of intercompany transactions, balances, or assets as required under IFRS 10. The total assets of NatWest Group plc consolidated annual report figure of £708.0bn as of 2024.
24. Total amounts for ring-fenced and non-ring-fenced (may include temporary staff) entities during 2024.
25. Includes Santander UK and non-ring-fenced bank, Santander Financial Services plc.
26. Santander UK plc, the ring-fenced UK entity of Santander UK group, reported total assets of £bn259.9 as of 2024.
27. Santander Financial Services plc, the non-ring-fenced UK entity of Santander UK group, reported total assets of £bn7.087 as of 2024.
28. The sum of the total assets of Santander UK plc and Santander Financial Services plc amounting to £266.987bn, does not reflect the elimination of intercompany transactions, balances, or assets as required under IFRS 10.
29. owned by Nationwide Building Society.
30. origins date back to 1810
31. Revolut has been authorised with restrictions as a UK bank.
32. The total assets figure for Revolut Group reflects the consolidated assets of the entire group, including both UK and international operations. It is not limited to the assets of its UK-based entities alone as of 2024.
33. Northern Bank Limited, trading as Danske Bank UK, reported total assets of £bn13.69 as of 2023.
34. Includes Virgin Money UK and its consolidated subsidiaries.