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News & Community

Who owns who?

Published:: 21 December 2010
Topic:: News,Money,Savings

Before the banking crisis, most savers wouldn't have thought twice about putting their money in a bank or building society account. But the events of the last couple of years have changed all this, so how do you keep your savings safe?

Read on to find out.

What protection do I have?

If you have your savings with a UK bank or building society it will be registered with the City regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Many overseas banks which offer products to British savers are also registered with the FSA - this will probably be stated on their websites but if you are unsure and can't find the information, give the bank a call or check on the FSA's website. If the firm is regulated, you, the customer, has protection in the unlikely event of that institution going bust.

You are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and the good news is that the level of protection UK savers benefit from rises on 1 January 2011.

It is increasing from £50,000 to £85,000. This is to bring the UK's compensation scheme in line with the rest of Europe, where savers receive €100,000 of protection. It means the first £85,000 you have in savings (£170,000 for joint accounts) is totally guaranteed.

However, that protection applies per institution, not per account, so if you have more than £85,000 with any one bank or building society, it is worth spreading your money around between different providers. And because some institutions operate a number of different brands, you also need to know whether all brands are registered separately with the FSA, or whether there is a single registration for the entire group. If it is the latter, you will only have £85,000 protection across all that institution's brands.

For example, Lloyds Banking Group, which was formed by the merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS has two banking licences. But to complicate matters there are a number of brands that operate under the HBOS licence: Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Birmingham Midshires, Intelligent Finance, The AA and Saga. This means that if you have a savings account with Halifax, and another with Birmingham Midshires, only £85,000 is protected. However, if you had a Halifax account and a Lloyds TSB account, you could protect £170,000 of your cash savings because they are registered separately with the FSA.

The bank and building society mergers we've seen over the last year or two have made things even more complicated. And to compound things further, some providers that operate here in the UK aren't registered with the FSA. Instead, you'll be protected by the compensation scheme that operates in their country of origin. For example, if you have a savings account with ING Direct, you're protected by the Dutch compensation scheme. However, within Europe the level of protection is €100,000, the equivalent to that you receive with a UK-registered provider.

To help you through this complicated maze, we've compiled the table below which shows you what protection you have with the main savings providers that operate in the UK.

Do any institutions offer total protection?

Yes. Your money is totally secure if you invest with National Savings & Investments because it is backed by the government. However, this protection comes at a cost as their accounts are not paying the best rates. If you want to maximise returns therefore, and have more than £85,000 in savings, it's worth spreading your money between different institutions.
How can I spread my money around safely?

You need to know which institutions own which. Here we give a run down of the major savings providers so you can spread your money around and ensure that all of your savings are totally protected. The information in this article was last updated on June 18, 2012.

Provider	Parent company & country of origin	Maximum level of protection
Santander (formerly Abbey) Alliance & Leicester ASDA Bradford & Bingley Cahoot	Banco Santander, Spain	£85,000 (in total)
Anglo Irish Bank	Anglo Irish Bank plc, Ireland	€100,000 (about £85,000) will be guaranteed under the Irish Deposit Guarantee Scheme. Remaining amount covered by the Irish Government's Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee) Scheme 2009
Bank of Baroda	Bank of Baroda, India	£85,000
Bank of Cyprus UK	Bank of Cyprus, Cyprus	Cypriot Deposit Protection Scheme covers up to €100,000 (about £85,000)
Bank of Scotland The AA Birmingham Midshires/BM Savings Halifax Intelligent Finance Saga	Lloyds Banking Group, UK	£85,000 (in total)
Bank of Ireland Bristol & West	Bank of Ireland, Ireland	€100,000 (about £85,000) will be guaranteed under the Irish Deposit Guarantee Scheme. Remaining amount covered by the Irish Government's Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee) Scheme 2009
Barclays Woolwich	Barclays Bank plc, UK	£85,000 (in total)
Cater Allen Private Bank	Banco Santander, Spain	£85,000
Citibank	Citigroup Inc. USA	£85,000
Close Brothers	Close Brothers Group plc, UK	£85,000
Clydesdale Bank Yorkshire Bank	National Bank Group, Australia	£85,000 (in total)
Coventry Building Society Stroud & Swindon Building Society	Coventry Building Society, UK ⁵	£85,000 (in total) ⁵
Egg	Citigroup Inc. USA	£85,000
FirstSave Bank of Nigeria	Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria	£85,000
HSBC First Direct	HSBC Bank plc, UK	£85,000 (in total)
ICICI Bank	ICICI Bank Limited, India	£85,000
ING Direct Kaupthing Edge ² Heritable Bank²	ING Direct N.V, Netherlands	Netherlands Depositors' Compensation Scheme covers up to €100,000 (about £85,000) ² ING Direct took over Kaupthing Edge & Heritable Bank's online deposit accounts in 2008
Investec Private Bank	Investec Bank plc, UK	£85,000
Julian Hodge Bank	Julian Hodge Bank	£85,000
Kent Reliance Building Society	OneSavings Bank plc, UK	£85,000
Laiki Bank	Marfin Popular Bank (Cyprus)	Central Bank of Cyprus Deposit Protection Scheme covers up to €100,000 (about £85,000)
Leeds Building Society	Leeds Building Society, UK	£85,000
Lloyds TSB Cheltenham & Gloucester	Lloyds Banking Group, UK	£85,000 (in total)
Manchester Building Society	Manchester Building Society, UK	£85,000
Mansfield Building Society	Mansfield Building Society, UK	£85,000
Market Harborough Building Society	Market Harborough Building Society, UK	£85,000
Marks & Spencer Money	Marks & Spencer Financial Services plc & HSBC, UK	£85,000
National Savings & Investments	Bank of England/HM Treasury	All deposits backed by UK Government
NatWest	Royal Bank of Scotland plc, UK	£85,000
NationwideCheshire Building Society Derbshire Buidling Society Dunfermline Buidling Society	Nationwide Building Society, UK ³	£85,000 (in total) ³
Newcastle Building Society	Newcastle Building Society, UK	£85,000
Northern Rock Virgin Money	Northern Rock plc, UK ⁴	£85,000 (in total) ⁴
Norwich & Peterborough Building Society	Norwich & Peterborough Building Society, UK	£85,000
Nottingham Building Society	Nottingham Building Society, UK	£85,000
Post Office	Bank of Ireland (UK) plc, EIRE	£85,000
Principality Building Society	Principality Building Society, UK	£85,000
Progressive Building Society	Progressive Building Society, UK	£85,000
Punjab National Bank	Punjab National Bank, India (PNB)	£85,000
Rothschild Reserve	N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, UK	£85,000
Royal Bank of Scotland Direct Line	Royal Bank of Scotland plc, UK	£85,000 (in total)
Saffron Building Society	Saffron Building Society, UK	£85,000
Sainsbury's Bank	Sainsbury's Bank plc & Lloyds Banking Group plc, UK	£85,000
Scarborough Building Society³	Skipton Building Society, UK ³	£85,000³
Scottish Widows	Lloyds Banking Group plc, UK	£85,000
Secure Trust Bank	Arbuthnot Banking Group plc, UK	£85,000
Shepshed Building Society	Shepshed Building Society, UK	£85,000
Skipton Building Society Scarborough Building Society Capital One Bank Chesham Building Society	Skipton Building Society, UK³	£85,000 (in total)³
Standard Life Bank	Barclays Bank plc, UK	£85,000
State Bank of India	State Bank of India, India	£85,000
The Co-operative Banksmile Britannia Building Society	The Co-operative Bank plc, UK⁴	£85,000 (in total)³
Teachers Building Society	Teachers Building Society, UK	£85,000
Tesco Personal Finance	Tesco plc, UK	£85,000
Turkish Bank (UK) Ltd.	Turkish Bank Limited, Turkey	£85,000
United Trust Bank	United Trust Bank, UK	£85,000
West Bromwich Building Society	West Bromwich Building Society, UK	£85,000
Yorkshire Building SocietyChelsea Building Society Barnsley Building Society	Yorkshire Building Society ⁶, UK	£85,000 (in total) ⁶

¹ Akbank N. V. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Akbank T.A.S, Turkey.
² ING Direct took over Kaupthing Edge & Heritable Bank's online deposit accounts in 2008.
^{3 Cheshire Building Society, Derbyshire Building Society and Dunfermline Building Society are trading divisions of Nationwide Building Society. Skipton and Scarborough building societies merged on March 30, 2009. Skipton Building Society bought the savings book of Capital One Bank in June 2009. Britannia Building Society is a trading name used by The Co-operative Bank plc.}
^{4 Deposits in Virgin Money branded accounts are deposits with Northern Rock plc and are covered by
NorthernRock's FSCS membership.
5}Coventry Building Society and Stroud and Swindon Building Society completed a merger on September 1, 2010.
⁶ Barnsley Building Society is a trading name of Yorkshire Building Society. Chelsea Building Society and Yorkshire Building Society merged on April 1, 2010.