How safe are smaller banks?

There are lots of hoops that banks need to jump through in order to get a banking licence and to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). For starters, they’ll need to prove the safety and soundness of their company.

As long as they’re authorised, they‘ll be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This protects up to £85,000 of your eligible deposits. It doesn’t differ depending on the size of the bank, so smaller banks get the same protection as larger high street banks. But be aware that the £85,000 limit applies to each banking licence. If your bank shares a licence with another, you’ll only get a total of £85,000 protection across both under the FSCS.

You can check to see if your bank shares a licence with another through the Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Services Register.

Sign up to Active Savings alerts

Please correct the following errors before you continue:

Existing client? Please log in to your account to automatically fill in the details below.

Title:

Please select... Mr Mrs Miss Ms Mx Dr Sir Rev

First name:

Last name:

Email address:

Main phone number: (optional)

Mobile phone number: (optional)

Date of birth: (optional)

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Title:

First name:

Last name:

Address:

Email address:

Where did you hear about us?

Please select... Advert in the press HL mention on another website Search Engine / Research Mobile application Advert on another website Recommendation from a friend Existing client HL mention in the media

Hargreaves Lansdown would like to contact you about the services we offer which may be of interest to you. We explain how we use your personal data in our Privacy Policy.

If you would rather not hear from us, please tick the relevant box(es) below:

Email - no thanks, please don't contact me via email

Post - no thanks, please don't contact me via post

Phone - no thanks, please don't contact me via phone

Register

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Your postcode ends:

This is my postcode

Not your postcode? Enter your full address.

Hargreaves Lansdown PLC group companies will usually send you further information by post and/or email about our products and services. If you would prefer not to receive this, please do let us know. We will not sell or trade your personal data.

This website is issued by Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management Limited (company number 1896481), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with firm reference 115248.

The Active Savings service is provided by Hargreaves Lansdown Savings Limited (company number 8355960). Hargreaves Lansdown Savings Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (firm reference number 915119). Hargreaves Lansdown Savings Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 with firm reference 901007 for the issuing of electronic money. Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management Limited and Hargreaves Lansdown Savings Limited are subsidiaries of Hargreaves Lansdown plc (company number 212214).