Banks in the UK

Barclays bank HSBC HBOS Royal Bank of Scotland Lloyds TSB Standard Chartered
Barclays HSBC HBOS Royal Bank of Scotland Lloyds TSB Standard Chartered

The UK banking sector is the largest in Europe and the 4th largest in the world. It includes over 300 banks and 45 building societies. There are approximately 9,000 bank branches and 70,000 ATMs available in the United Kingdom. About 2.2 million people work in financial and related services in the UK. The Big Four Banks (HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group) manage over 75% of UK current accounts and 85% of business accounts. They also hold more than £5 trillion in total assets and employ around 560,000 people.

Aldermore Bank – A financial institution with focus on small and medium size businesses (SMEs).

Arbuthnot Latham is a UK private bank offering wealth management, private banking, commercial solutions and money transmissions worldwide.

Atom Bank plc is a low-cost app based bank headquartered in Durham. Atom's app is available on iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones and tablets.

Bank and Clients plc – a British private bank offering savings and deposit products, mortgages and business loans.

Bank of England – The central bank of the United Kingdom. It was established in 1694, nationalised in 1946, and gained independence in 1997.

Bank of Scotland – A commercial bank headquartered in Edinburgh. It operates as a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group.

Barclays plc – A global financial services group with an extensive presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. It is the second largest bank in the UK in terms of assets. The company's market capitalization is US$50 billion (February 23, 2018).

Barclaycard – The leading credit card and payment provider with over 10 million customers in the UK.

Bank of London & The Middle East

British Arab Commercial Bank

Bristol & West – A former building society established in 1850. B&W was acquired by Bank of Ireland.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch International

Cambridge & Counties Bank

Citibank UK

ClearBank Ltd – A clearing UK bank offering access to all the UK payments schemes including Faster Payments, CHAPS (same-day UK payments), BACS and SWIFT network.

Close Brothers Group is a modern merchant banking group providing financial support to small businesses and individuals across the United Kingdom.

Clydesdale Bank – One of the largest banks in Scotland. It was named "Best First Time Buyer Mortgage Provider" and "Best Card Provider" by Moneynet and Moneyfacts, respectively. Clydesdale operates as a division of CYBG PLC.

Co-operative Bank – A retail and commercial bank headquartered in Manchester, UK. With over 4,000 employees, it operates approximately 100 branches.

Credit Suisse (UK) Ltd

Duncan Lawrie – A small private bank with headquarters in Belgravia, London. It operates as a subsidiary of Camellia Group, an international holding company.

Egg Banking plc was a leading UK internet bank. Currently, it is a registered trademark of Yorkshire Building Society, the UK's second-largest building society with over 3.5 million members. In recent years YBS has merged with the Barnsley, Chelsea and Norwich & Peterborough building societies.

Gatehouse Bank plc – a UK challenger bank headquartered in Mayfair, London.

Halifax is a trading name of HBOS, itself a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group. In the United Kingdom, the Halifax is used as brand for Bank of Scotland branches in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and for savings and mortgages in Scotland.

HBOS plc – A wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group.

HSBC Holdings – One of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world with offices in 72 countries. HSBC is the largest bank in UK by assets and market capitalization ($201 billion, May 10, 2018).

ICICI Bank UK plc

Kingdom Bank Ltd – A Christian bank headquartered in Nottingham.

Lloyds Banking Group – The fourth largest banking group in the UK with total assets of £811 billion (September 2017). The company’s main brands are Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and Scottish Widows. In 2017, the Group was named the Best Bank in the UK and Best Bank in Western Europe by Euromoney.

Man Group – The world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund. It offers a range of products from diversified fund of hedge fund portfolios to single manager hedge funds to private investors, institutions and financial professionals worldwide. The company has approximately US$96 billion in assets under management.

Metro Bank PLC – An independent UK bank offering brilliant personal and business banking services. The Bank’s retail stores are open 7 days a week and 362 days a year.

Monzo Bank Ltd is app-only bank based in London.

M&S Bank – A trading name of Marks & Spencer Financial Services plc.

NatWest (National Westminster Bank) – One of the largest retail and commercial bank in the UK serving about 8 million personal customers. As at December 31, 2017, it had assets of £341 billion. NatWest is a subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

Nationwide Building Society – One of the largest providers of mortgages in the UK. The company had residential mortgages of £170 billion and member deposits of £185 billion. NBS is the largest mutual building society in the world.

Reliance Bank was established in 1890 and is owned by The Salvation Army. It provides current and savings accounts, credit cards, personal loans, internet banking, mortgages, insurance, and investment services.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) – The third largest banking group in the UK in terms of total assets. It controls National Westminster Bank, Coutts & Co and Ulster Bank. Coutts was named Best Private Bank in UK and Best Private Bank for Philanthropy Services (Global Private Banking Awards 2016).

Sainsbury's Bank – A wholly-owned subsidiary of J Sainsbury plc, one of the UK’s largest retailers with over 1,300 supermarkets and convenience stores. It was named “Best Personal Loan Provider” and “Best Credit Card Provider” by Moneynet.

Schroders – One of the largest asset managers in Europe. It manages approximately US$540 billion on behalf of institutional and retail investors, financial institutions and high net worth clients worldwide.

Scotiabank in the UK provides a wide array of business, corporate and investment banking services as well as precious metals products and services through ScotiaMocatta.

Smile (smile.co.uk) – A British internet bank and part of The Co-operative Bank. It is UK's first full internet bank launched in 1999.

Santander UK – One of the largest providers of mortgages and savings in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest residential mortgage lender and a top three savings brand in the UK.

Shawbrook Bank – The lending and savings bank with a focus on poorly served customer segments.

Standard Chartered – The world's leading emerging markets bank with a strong presence in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. It employs around 84,000 people and operates over 1,100 branches in nearly 70 countries.

Standard Life – A leading long term savings and investments company. Standard Life’s business includes one of the largest life and pensions businesses in the UK with over 4.5 million customers.

Tesco Bank – A telephone and internet bank owned by Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket and one of the world's largest retailers with operations in 14 countries. It was named "Best Direct Mortgage Provider" by Moneynet.

Virgin Money is a UK-based retail bank primarily focused on providing residential mortgages, savings and credit cards. The company’s residential mortgage loans are £23 billion.

Yorkshire Bank – A commercial bank in England founded in 1859 in Halifax, West Yorkshire. It is a trading division of Clydesdale Bank plc.

See also: Arab Banks in London

 Top Banks in the United Kingdom

Rank Bank Total assets, GBP bn Balance sheet
1 HSBC Holdings 1,890.59 31.03.2018
2 Barclays 1,142.20 31.03.2018
3 Lloyds Banking Group 805.000 31.03.2018
4 Royal Bank of Scotland 738.509 31.03.2018
5 Standard Chartered 490.483 31.12.2017
6 NatWest 283.800 31.03.2018
7 Santander UK 310.500 31.03.2018
8 CYBG PLC 43.231 30.09.2017
9 Virgin Money Holdings (UK) 41.108 31.12.2017
10 The Co-operative Bank 24.490 31.12.2017
11 Metro Bank 17.888 31.03.2018
12 Tesco Bank 14.591 31.03.2018

NatWest Plc (National Westminster Bank) is a subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.
Tesco Bank is a trading name of Tesco Personal Finance plc.

The UK Building Societies

Bath Investment & Building Society
Beverley Building Society
Buckinghamshire Building Society
Cambridge Building Society
The Chorley & District Building Society
City of Derry Building Society
Coventry Building Society
Cumberland Building Society
Darlington Building Society
Dudley Building Society
Dunfermline Building Society
Earl Shilton Building Society
Ecology Building Society
Furness Building Society
Hanley Economic Building Society
Harpenden Building Society
Hinckley & Rugby Building Society
Holmesdale Building Society
Ipswich Building Society
Leeds Building Society
Leek Building Society
Loughborough Building Society
Manchester Building Society
The Mansfield Building Society
Market Harborough Building Society
Marsden Building Society
Melton Mowbray Building Society
Monmouthshire Building Society
National Counties Building Society
Nationwide Building Society
Newbury Building Society
Nottingham Building Society
Penrith Building Society
Principality Building Society
Progressive Building Society
Saffron Building Society
Scottish Building Society
Skipton Building Society
The Stafford Railway Building Society
Swansea Building Society
Teachers' Building Society
Tipton and Coseley Building Society
Vernon Building Society
West Bromwich Building Society
Yorkshire Building Society