Banks in the UK

The UK banking sector is the largest in Europe and the 4th largest in the world. It includes over 300 banks and 42 building societies. The Big Four Banks (HSBC, Barclays, NatWest Group 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.

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, now part of the Nationwide Building Society group. Its parent CYBG PLC was renamed Virgin Money UK PLC in October 2019 and the Clydesdale Bank customer brand was withdrawn in favour of Virgin Money. Nationwide completed its acquisition of Virgin Money UK on 1 October 2024, and both Virgin Money UK and Clydesdale Bank were re-registered as private limited companies in July 2026.

Co-operative Bank – A retail and commercial bank headquartered in Manchester. Coventry Building Society agreed in May 2024 to acquire it for £780 million, and the bank joined the Coventry Building Society group in 2025, returning it to mutual ownership.

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. HSBC is the largest bank in the UK by assets.

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 – A London-listed alternative investment manager offering hedge fund and other alternative strategies to private investors, institutions and financial professionals worldwide. It managed US$253.6 billion of assets as at 30 June 2026.

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; the group holding company, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, was renamed NatWest Group plc in July 2020. Coutts was named Best Private Bank in UK and Best Private Bank for Philanthropy Services (Global Private Banking Awards 2016).

Sainsbury's Bank – The former banking arm of the retailer J Sainsbury plc. NatWest acquired its core banking products in June 2024, and by 1 July 2026 Sainsbury's Bank had ceased to be authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and no longer held banking permissions. The retailer's financial services now trade as Sainsbury's Money, distributing products supplied by partner institutions.

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 long-term savings and pensions brand. The Standard Life name is used by Phoenix Life Limited; its listed parent, formerly Phoenix Group Holdings plc, was itself renamed Standard Life plc in February 2026. The former Standard Life asset management business was combined with Aberdeen Asset Management and trades as Aberdeen Investments.

Starling Bank – A London-headquartered digital bank offering personal, joint and business current accounts, with over four million accounts. It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 730166 and describes itself as Britain's first digital bank.

Tesco Bank – A retail banking brand offering credit cards, personal loans and savings. Its banking business transferred to Barclays Bank UK PLC on 1 November 2024, following High Court approval on 17 October 2024, and Tesco Bank is now a trading name of Barclays Bank UK PLC.

Virgin Money – A UK retail bank offering mortgages, savings and credit cards. Nationwide Building Society completed its acquisition of Virgin Money on 1 October 2024; Virgin Money continues to operate as a separate legal entity with its own banking licence within the Nationwide group.

Yorkshire Bank – A commercial bank in England founded in 1859 in Halifax, West Yorkshire. It traded as a division of Clydesdale Bank plc; the brand was withdrawn in favour of Virgin Money, and yorkshirebank.co.uk now redirects to the Virgin Money site.

See also: Arab Banks in London

Top Banks in the United Kingdom

The table shows balance sheets dated between 30 September 2017 and 31 March 2018 and has not been restated. Several of the entities named have since changed: The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc was renamed NatWest Group plc in July 2020; CYBG PLC was renamed Virgin Money UK PLC in October 2019 and was acquired by Nationwide Building Society on 1 October 2024; Virgin Money Holdings (UK) plc was a separate company, acquired by CYBG in 2018; The Co-operative Bank joined the Coventry Building Society group in 2025; and Tesco Bank's banking business transferred to Barclays Bank UK PLC on 1 November 2024. NatWest Plc (National Westminster Bank) is a subsidiary of NatWest Group.

The UK Building Societies

Bath Investment & Building Society
Beverley Building Society
Buckinghamshire Building Society
Cambridge Building Society
The Chorley & District Building Society
Coventry Building Society
Cumberland Building Society
Darlington Building Society
Dudley Building Society
Earl Shilton Building Society
Ecology Building Society
Family Building Society
Furness Building Society
Hanley Economic Building Society
Harpenden Building Society
Hinckley & Rugby Building Society
Leeds Building Society
Leek Building Society
Loughborough Building Society
Manchester Building Society (a trading name of Newcastle 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
Newcastle 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
Suffolk Building Society
Swansea Building Society
Teachers' Building Society
Tipton and Coseley Building Society
Vernon Building Society
West Bromwich Building Society
Yorkshire Building Society

Societies previously listed here that no longer appear on the Building Societies Association's list of members: City of Derry, Dunfermline and Holmesdale. Ipswich Building Society was renamed Suffolk Building Society in 2021, and Manchester Building Society continues as a trading name of Newcastle Building Society. The Building Societies Association represents 42 societies; some of the names above are trading names used by member societies rather than separate societies.