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In a crowded landscape of numerous banks competing for your attention with a million and one marketing campaigns, deciding which ones truly offer the best services and benefits can leave you feeling overwhelmed. From the esteemed pillars of the traditional high street to the trailblazing pioneers of online-only banking, our selection highlights those banks that consistently deliver exceptional value and reliability to their clients.
Here, we evaluated the UK banks based on everyday banking services – covering the type of bank accounts on offer, interest rates, common charges, and eligibility requirements. Please note that this evaluation does not cover borrowing facilities such as mortgages or loans, with the exception of overdrafts.
Best Banks in the UK Compared & Reviewed
Here's a collection of the UK's finest to bank with.
Best Banks in the UK at a Glance
| Name | Score | Visit | Disclaimer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 8.5 | Visitstarlingbank.com | ||
 | 7.5 | Visitsantander.co.uk | ||
 | 8.5 | Visitrevolut.com | ||
 | 7.2 | Visitwww.nationwide.co.uk/ | ||
 | 7.0 | Visitbarclays.com | ||
 | 8.0 | Visitwww.chase.co.uk/ | ||
 | 7HSBC | 6.8 | Visitwww.hsbc.com/ | |
 | 7.4 | Visitmonese.com | ||
 | 7.0 | Visitwww.firstdirect.com/ |
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The UK is awash with a wave of online banks changing the banking landscape – and Starling, along with Monzo, is leading the way.
Like other neo-banks, Starling also doesn’t have a physical presence and is lagging in providing advanced banking services, including mortgages or loans. Nevertheless, it’s an excellent choice for everyday personal and business banking and provides a robust marketplace through which you can access other financial services, from mortgages to investments.
Barring the business account, its services are completely free of charge – including spending and sending money abroad. Moreover, it passes through Mastercard’s real exchange rates and levies no additional charges; considering that foreign transaction fees usually push 3%, you’ll save quite a bit.
The mobile banking app packs a multitude of innovative features for budgeting and facilitating payments between friends and family, as well as bills. This includes round-up spare change options, saving pots for designated purposes, virtual cards, and all the other payment services.
Spain’s Banco Santander has been a fixture of the UK’s banking landscape since the early 2000s. The bank boasts a wide range of offerings, from everyday banking to mortgages and a full stack of ISA products; it caters to a variety of needs.
Nonetheless, its products are often on the expensive, or rather, demanding side – with minimum balance requirements to benefit from current account perks and monthly fees, they are hard to get excited about. That said, its Edge account is steering in the right direction.
It offers 1% cash back on select household bills, including the council tax, mobile phone, broadband, water, and gas bills as well as supermarket and travel spending – which are capped at £10 per month. But what truly sets Edge apart is the competitive interest rate of 4% applied on balances up to £4,000.
To be eligible, you need to pay at least £500 into your account monthly and have at least two direct debits set up from your account. There’s also a £3 monthly fee, offset by the £20 you’ll get via cashback.
The terms are pretty appealing – cashback on current accounts is usually capped at much lower amounts (£5 for Halifax and Natwest, for example), and the interest rate on the balance of current accounts is fiercely competitive
Starling’s closest contestant, Monzo, is among the major online banks in the UK. But, unlike its competitor, it adds personal loans to its basic personal banking services.
But its extensive saving product range is where Monzo truly shines. Offering easy access, instant access, fixed-term (choice of four terms), and easy access to ISA accounts, it edges close to its traditional counterparts in account variety. The bank is also creating a Savings Marketplace – the accounts on offer at the minute are supported by various providers, and we expect to see more in the future.
Besides competitive rates and a wide array of options, Monzo is exceptional in its innovative features and campaigns that encourage saving and budgeting behaviour. For example, you can set up triggers to fund your savings pot, which includes funding your rainy day pot whenever temperatures go above 25 degrees, as a reward for yourself whenever you hit the gym, or to help you stick with the 1p challenge.
Combine them with the digital bank flagship feature of round-up spare change, and your savings will likely build up fairly quickly.
The world’s largest building society, NationWide, has been a fixture of the UK’s banking ecosystem since 1884. It boasts an impeccable industry reputation and snapped a 74% rating in overall service quality from BBC’s watchdog.
Today, Nationwide’s offerings, stretching from basic accounts to packaged accounts, cater to a range of needs. Do you have a poor credit history? Wish to teach your little one how to manage money? Fancy some cash offer with your student account? You can get accounts meeting all these needs and requests and more.
Among the types of accounts, we mainly find the Rewards account to be the strongest. It offers £4 cashback for setting up two direct debits and charges £2 monthly for maintenance. It adds up to £36 a year in rewards – it sounds trivial, but it’s basically windfall cash. We should note that the Rewards account and packaged accounts are the only ones with monthly charges among Nationwide’s current and savings accounts.
Beyond fundamental banking features, it offers various services, including joint bank accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, and a range of savings accounts with interest rates climbing up to 5% AER.
One of the oldest banks in the UK, Barclays traces its history all the way back to 1690. Over the next three centuries, the bank has turned into a global industry giant – protecting, moving, lending, and saving money for over 48 million customers worldwide.
Barclays is a fast adapter to the changing banking landscape. Since the swathe of online banks changed the standards of digital banking, the legacy bank has adopted many of their innovations. So much so that according to the latest reports, its online banking services snap an 86% customer satisfaction rate as per BBC’s Watchdog.
Besides its robust banking app, it also supports an attractive range of products that improve everyday banking. We are particularly impressed with the credit card collection, which packs types of accounts like credit builders or reward cards.
The reward credit card, albeit with a relatively high APR, has one of the most attractive cashback rates of 0.25% on all purchases – barring money transfers, currency conversions, or gambling-related purchases. For comparison, Santander’s offer is limited to 0.5% and comes with a £3 monthly fee.
Barclays offers a transparent, straightforward offer – the same rate for everyday spending, no monthly fees, no monthly caps, and it’s a good travel companion too. However, it charges additional fees for spending and withdrawing money abroad.
Banking in the UK: An Overview
The UK banking system is made up of private and international banks, as well as building societies. As of this writing, there are over 350 banks operating in the UK – with a handful of large banks dominating the sector, also known as the Big Four (Barclays, HSBC, NatWest, and Lloyds Banking Group).
The Central Bank: The Bank of England, or BoE, is the UK’s central bank. It sets up the country’s monetary policy. Most importantly, it sets the interest rates to tame inflation when there’s a hike, which affects the services of all the other banks.
High-Street Banks: So-called high-street banks are the major retail banks with multiple branch locations. For example, the likes of Santander and HSBC are all high-street banks: instead of targeting a particular type of customer, these banks offer services to the general public.
Investment Banks: These institutions help individuals and companies raise capital and provide financial advisory services. Major high street banks, like Lloyds Bank or Barclays, as well as specialised outfits, provide investment banking services.
Online Banks: Online-only or app-based banks are a relatively new addition to the UK’s banking landscape. As they don’t have physical branches, they tend to have lower overhead costs and prioritise digital banking in their services.
Navigating Banking in the UK: What You Need to Know
Of course, there’s so much more to know about banking that is beyond the scope of this page (mortgages and loans, for starters) – but here are the very fundamentals you should know about getting a bank account:
1. Current accounts are the most common bank accounts, but not everybody qualifies for them
When you apply for a bank account (not a credit account), banks usually run a ‘soft’ credit check to understand what services they can offer. For example, if you have a particularly poor credit rating or have just moved to the UK and have no credit history, you may not qualify for a standard current account with overdraft facilities.
But fret not; the majority of banks in the UK offer basic bank accounts to fill the gap. They are typically fee free and don’t come with overdraft facilities. Many on our list, including Santander and online banks like Starling, offer basic accounts.
Banks and other financial institutions may run a soft credit check to view your credit eligibility. It’s done for two primary reasons:
To check your identity: Banks ensure that you are indeed the person you say you are, not impersonating someone else.
View your borrowing history: Banks may want a glimpse into your credit history so they can pre-approve any offers or show you what you are eligible for.
Soft checks, unlike ‘hard’ checks, don’t show up on your credit report and don’t affect your rating. On the other hand, hard checks involve a full review of your credit past and may affect your credit score.
2. If you have limited or no credit history, banks have specific products that can help you
It’s not all gloomy for those with limited or no credit history. There are things you can do to improve your credit score:
Paying bills or rent on time,
Getting a credit card and using it in a chilled manner (involves paying debt on time and not nearing your credit limit),
Or register for the electoral roll.
Some banks, like Barclays, also offer credit builder cards explicitly designed to boost your credit score.
3. Your money is protected for up to £85,000
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are the main regulatory bodies that oversee any institution offering banking services to UK residents.
As per the FCA regulations, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protects all balances for up to £85,000 (per person, per institution) if banks go insolvent. All of the banks listed above, including the online banks like Starling and Monzo, have banking licenses and are fully regulated as UK banks.
4. Switching banks is very easy now – (almost) completely hands-free, and takes a week
The Current Account Switch Service (CASS) has been in full force for some time now, and it’s a pretty straightforward process. All you need to do is to open a new bank account with your chosen bank, and request a switch – and voila! It’ll be done within 7 days.
Provided that both banks are signed up with CASS, as most banks are now, the service will close down your old account and will transfer all your funds, direct debits, and standing orders across. It also ensures that your future payments will be received in your new account.
You should note that CASS doesn’t apply to every recurrent payment. All payments you made via entering your debit card information, which includes most subscriptions like Amazon Prime, have to be done manually.
Which banks are included in CASS?
5. Some bank accounts have pay-in requirements
Some accounts may require you to deposit a certain amount of money every month in order to maintain it or keep benefitting from the perks. This usually applies to reward accounts, but we see some current accounts also employing the practice.
Matching monthly pay-in requirements usually allows you to keep earning interest, receiving cashback and/or rewards, and not pay a monthly fee.
Some will also enquire whether your income is sufficient enough to afford the minimum deposit requirement.
Breakdown of minimum pay-in requirements of major banks
How to Choose the Right Bank?
Luckily for us, there is a multitude of banks that satisfy the basic safety requirements and come with a full stack of products. But, unluckily for us, it can be too many – to make things easier, you can start by simply asking yourself: what do you need from your bank?
Do you often find yourself overdrawn?
Are you prioritising saving right now?
Do you travel a lot?
Would you like your bank account to include additional features like travel or breakdown insurance?
In order to help you in your search, we grouped together the best banks catering to a variety of needs.
The Best Banks for Switchers
As we said before, switching banks is as easy as one, two, three these days, and can be lucrative. If you are considering switching banks, it’s worth knowing the best deals – although remember that you shouldn’t base your decision solely on the switch prize. They are only temporary, bank accounts are not.
While eligibility criteria vary by bank, the majority require the following:
You have to close the account you are switching from,
Switch your account using the Current Account Switching Service,
The account you are switching from must be with a different bank than you are switching to.
We researched the best bank switch deals available right now. Here’s a quick recap:
Switch Offer | Terms | |
|---|---|---|
Natwest | Switch to any Natwest account and get £200 | You have to deposit £1,250 and log into the mobile app within 60 days |
HSBC | £200 for switching to an HSBC Advance account | You have to be approved for at least £1,000 in arranged overdraft |
First Direct | Switch to a 1st account, and receive £175 | You have to deposit at least £1,000 within three months, and you can’t have an HSBC account already |
The Best Banks for Overdrafts
The interest rates for overdrafts can be as high as 40% – much higher than the typical rate on credit cards. So if you often find yourself dipping in your overdrafts, make sure to pick the correct account to avoid spiralling into debt because it's quite easy to do so.
Here’s a selection of the best banks for overdrafts;
Interest Rates | Arranged Overdraft Limit | Cost of £500 overdraft for one week | |
|---|---|---|---|
Starling | 15%, 25%, or 35% EAR (variable) | £1,200 | £1.35 |
Barclays Premier | £500 interest-free overdraft, 35% APR after | £1,200 | £0 |
Monzo | 19%, 29%, or 39% EAR (variable) | £2,000 | £1.68 |
Learn more: What are overdrafts?
The Best Banks for Saving
After years of low rates, the Bank of England has announced several hikes in interest rates in a bid to curb soaring inflation. Besides anything else, this means savings can and are making a comeback – and in order to cope with the rise of living costs, it’s crucial to make the most of your money.
The interest earned from a savings account is taxed – but most won’t pay any.
Basic-rate taxpayers can earn up to £1,000/year
Higher-rate taxpayers can earn £500/year
In order to push the limit, basic-rate taxpayers need to have just short of above £20,000 in their savings account – in which case, you can opt for a Cash ISA, as on these interest is always tax-free and doesn’t count towards your personal allowance.
Here are we list some of the best banks for saving:
Best Saving Option | Interest Rates | Access | |
|---|---|---|---|
Monzo | 12-month Fixed Pot | 3.46% AER | Locked in for a year |
Barclays | Rainy Day Saver | 5.12% AER for balances up to £5,000 | Anytime |
NationWide | Nationwide FlexDirect | 5% fixed applicable for a year | Anytime |
The Best Banks for Packaged Accounts
It’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but packaged bank accounts can save you £100s in the event of your car breaking down, or you dropping your phone into the canal after a night out. But more so than anything, they cater to families who travel – a lot. When looking for a packaged account, it’s crucial to evaluate whether the money you save will offset how much you will be paying in subscription costs – which amounts to between £84 and £180.
Here's a selection of the best banks for packaged accounts:
Perks Included | Monthly Fee | |
|---|---|---|
Monzo | Family travel insurance, mobile phone insurance, discount with select retailers | £15 |
NationWide | Travel insurance, mobile phone insurance, breakdown cover, cashback offers | £13 |
Travel insurance, purchase protection, cashback offers | £6,99 |
The Best Banks for Travellers
While packaged accounts usually include perks and benefits for travelling families, there are other options out there that come with lower currency exchange fees (sometimes none at all), free ATM withdrawals abroad, and more.
Here's a selection of the best banks for travellers:
Exchange rate mark-up | ATM Withdrawals | |
|---|---|---|
Monzo | ❌ | £250/month, 3% fee applies after |
Starling | 0.4% | £300/month |
Wise | ❌ | £6,99 |
For more flexibility while purchasing currencies, also visit our list of the best multicurrency accounts, as well as specialised US dollar and euro accounts available in the UK.
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