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

Central bank

The

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

is the

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

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

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

and

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

banking market in the UK is dominated by HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group - all four operate more than one banking brand in the UK. In addition, some people argue Spanish-owned Santander UK should be a part of the "Big 4" making it the big 5; however, its Spanish origins hinder its recognition 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". As well as this, the

Nationwide Building Society Nationwide Building Society is a British mutual financial institution and the largest building society in the world. As of 2024, it serves over 16 million members and operates entirely for their benefit, without shareholders. The society was e ...

(commonly referred to as "Nationwide"), and

Standard Chartered Standard Chartered PLC is a British multinational bank with operations in wealth management, corporate and investment banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in th ...

are both candidates to be the fifth and sixth members of the group, although Standard Chartered does not operate a retail bank in the UK. The largest of the " Big 4" banks in every relevant metric is

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

(the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) which, despite its name, is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, with historical links to business in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

. It is the largest bank in Europe and the 7th largest in the world by total assets and 9th largest in the world by market cap.

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

and

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. The number of independent banks shrank during 2008: Northern Rock was

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with ...

by the UK Government (and is now owned by

Virgin Money Virgin Money may refer to: * Virgin Money (brand), a financial services brand owned by Virgin Group * Virgin Money UK, a British banking and financial services company owned by Nationwide Building Society Nationwide Building Society is a Bri ...

), followed by Bradford & Bingley;

Alliance & Leicester Alliance & Leicester plc was a British bank and former building society, formed by the merger in 1985 of the Alliance Building Society and the Leicester Building Society. The business Demutualisation, demutualised in the middle of 1997, when ...

was acquired by Santander, who merged it into Santander UK. On 18 September 2008,

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Established in Birmingham in 1765, Lloyds Bank e ...

plc entered into a confirmed agreement to take over HBOS plc ( HBOS plc included Halifax Bank and The

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial bank, commercial and clearing (finance), clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Par ...

), which took effect on 19 January 2009, when HBOS was acquired and folded into

Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group plc is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds B ...

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 J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

Former

Tesco Bank Tesco Bank is a British retail banking brand operating as a trading name of Barclays. It was launched in July 1997 as part of a 50:50 joint venture between The Royal Bank of Scotland and Tesco, the largest supermarket in the United Kingdom, e ...

, which was acquired by Barclays on 1 November 2024 from

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

. *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 A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization, which offers banking institution, banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage loan, mortgage lending. They exist in the Unit ...

. 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 Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

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 Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

* Al Rayan Bank, owned by Masraf Al Rayan of

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

* Axis Bank UK, owned by

Axis Bank Axis Bank Limited, formerly known as UTI Bank (1993–2007), is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's third largest private sector bank by assets and fo ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

*Bank of Ceylon (UK), owned by Bank of Ceylon of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

*Bank of Baroda (UK), owned by

Bank of Baroda Bank of Baroda (BOB or BoB) is an Public sector banks in India, Indian government Public sector bank headquartered in Vadodara, Gujarat. It is the third largest Public sector banks in India, public sector bank in India after State Bank of India ...

*Bank of China (UK), owned by

Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Banco da China'') is a state-owned Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, Beijing, China. It is one of ...

*Bank of India (UK), owned by Bank of India *

Bank of Ireland Bank of Ireland Group plc () is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history. At ...

UK, owned by

of the

; one of the leading banks in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, and present in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

to a lesser extent *Bank Sepah International plc, owned by Bank Sepah of Iran * Chase UK, owned by JPMorganChase of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

* Citibank (UK), owned by

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

of the

Danske Bank Danske Bank A/S (, ) is a Danish multinational banking and financial services corporation. Headquartered in Copenhagen, it is the largest bank in Denmark and a major retail bank in the northern European region with over 5 million retail custome ...

(formerly Northern Bank), owned by

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

*FCMB Bank (UK) Limited, owned by First City Monument Bank of Nigeria
Habib Bank UK
owned by Habib Bank of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

*ICBC (London) plc, by

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC; zh, 中国工商银行) is a Chinese partially state-owned multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, China. It is the largest of the " big four" banks ...

*ICICI Bank (UK), owned by ICICI Bank of

* Nurol Bank (UK), owned by Nurol Bank of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

*Punjab National Bank (International), owned by Punjab National Bank of

* RCI Bank UK, owned by RCI Banque SA * Santander UK (formerly

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

and Bradford & Bingley), owned by

Santander Group Banco Santander S.A. trading as Santander Group ( , , ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Santander, with operative offices in Madrid. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in most global financial centres ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

*SEB (UK), owned by

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (; lit. "Scandinavian Private Bank"), abbreviated SEB, is a Swedish bank headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In Sweden and the Baltic countries, SEB has a full financial service offering. In Denmark, Finland, Nor ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

*State Bank of India (UK), owned by

State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...

*Svenska

Handelsbanken Svenska Handelsbanken AB is a leading Nordic countries, Nordic bank with international operations, providing a comprehensive range of financial services including corporate banking, investment banking, trading, and consumer banking such as loans, ...

, UK Branch * The Bank of East Asia, UK Branch * TSB Bank, part of Sabadell Group, headquartered in

*Union Bank of India (UK) Ltd, owned by Union Bank of India of

*United Bank UK, owned by

United Bank Limited United Bank Limited (often abbreviated as UBL) is a Pakistani bank headquartered at I.I. Chundrigar Road in Karachi. It is a subsidiary of British multinational conglomerate, Bestway Group. Founded by Agha Hasan Abedi in 1959, UBL saw its firs ...

*Zenith Bank (UK), owned by Zenith Bank of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Banks incorporated in the UK

A full list of businesses considered banks by the Prudential Regulation Authority is shown 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 National Savings and Investments (NS&I), formerly called the Post Office Savings Bank and National Savings, is a state-owned savings bank in the United Kingdom. It is both a non-ministerial government department and an executive agency of HM T ...

Notes

References

External links

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

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Banks