UK Banks Post Crunch - Who Owns Who

The financial turmoil of the past 18 months has led to a wave of consolidation in the banking industry, making it even harder to ensure you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket.

A recent article on Confused.com takes a look at today’s banking sector to find out who actually owns who on your highs street.

Why it matters

If a savings institution goes under, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) will provide compensation of up to £50,000 to single account holders and £100,000 for joint accounts.

However, it’s important to note, the compensation limit applies per banking licence and not per brand, meaning it’s crucial you know who owns who.

When it gets confusing

Staying within this compensation limit is not as simple as just making sure you don’t have more than £50,000 saved with one banking group.

Some banks have merged but continue to operate their bands under different banking licences. In some cases, special measures have been put in place so that merged groups are treated as having separate licences, even though they don’t.

While you won’t go wrong if you ensure you don’t have more than £50,000 saved with any one institution, you could potentially miss out on good returns if two brands within one group are operating under separate licences and both have competitive deals.

Read a guide to the big bank operators in the article