Directory of UK Challenger Banks
| Bank | Year | Status |
| Acorn | 2007 | With an Acorn Account™, you get a Prepaid Debit MasterCard® and a complete current account that allows you to pay your bills by Direct Debit or Standing Order. There are no bounced payment fees and you can keep track of your account 24/7 online. |
| Aldermore | 2009 | Aldermore does not appear on the official Bank of England list of challenger banks as it gained its banking license through the acquisition of Ruffler Bank in 2009. It has since been sold to First Rand of South Africa. |
| Anna Money | 2017 | The ANNA Money business account comes with a debit card & finance assistant tool. Receipt Scanner, Instant Invoicing, Automated Bookkeeping & Tax Admin In One App. |
| Atom Bank | 2015 | Offering savings and mortgages, and is entirely app-based. |
| BABB | 2016 | The BABB Platform empowers users to do everything from storing and managing their assets to fundraising and donating to causes all over the world. Whether you’re sending money home or donating to a cause; with BABB more money to where it’s needed most. |
| Bank Of Scotland | 2007 | The Bank of Scotland plc is a commercial and clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland. With a history dating to the 17th century, it is the fifth-oldest extant bank in the United Kingdom and is the only commercial institution created by the Parliament of Scotland to remain in existence. |
| Barclay Card | 1966 | Barclays launched Barclaycard on 29 June 1966, initially as a charge card, but following the Bank of England’s agreement to the offering of revolving credit, it became the first credit card in the United Kingdom on 8 November 1967. It enjoyed the monopoly of the credit card market in the United Kingdom, until the introduction of the Access Card in October 1972. |
| Barclays | 1690 | Barclays traces its origins to the goldsmith banking business established in the City of London in 1690. James Barclay became a partner in the business in 1736. In 1896, several banks in London and the English provinces, including Goslings Bank, Backhouse’s Bank and Gurney’s Bank, united as a joint-stock bank under the name Barclays and Co. Over the following decades, Barclays expanded to become a nationwide bank. |
| Bean | 2016 | Shut Down in 2020 |
| Beanstalk | 2008 | Beanstalk is an app-based child savings and investment account, founded in … to a physical bank branch with separate paperwork for each child and/or minimum … banking and investing, including alternative lending, |
| Bud | 2020 | Bud, the UK-founded start-up, has launched an open banking application program interface (API) for payments. The new solution will provide an alternative to card payments and bank transfers. |
| Bunq | 2015 | Bunq is a banking app that allows you to have total control over your money through your phone. Bunq offers personal and business accounts. |
| Cashplus | 2005 | APS Financial LTD. Cashplus is a provider of prepaid MasterCards and current accounts for consumers, small businesses, and local government authorities in the UK. In February 2021 Cashplus officially became a fully-fledged bank. |
| Chip | 2016 | The UK’s best fintech startups, from challenger banks to savings apps. … Chip is an automated savings app that links up with your current account. |
| Cleo | 2016 | Cleo, the London-based fintech startup that offers an AI-powered chatbot to help you manage your finances, has closed £2 million in further funding, adding to an impressive list of backers that already includes Skype founder Niklas Zennström. |
| Coconut | 2018 | Coconut, the smart banking, accounting and tax tool. ,A banking app for freelancers and the self-employed. |
| Countingup | 2018 | Countingup combines a business bank account with accounting software. |
| Currensea | 2020 | British fintech Currensea offers a first-of-its-kind open banking debit card for small businesses, enabling to make international transactions through their existing bank account without any of the charges and with low fees competitive with the leading challenger banks. |
| Curve | 2015 | Curve, the London-based fintech startup offers accounts Curve, Curve Black. Curver Metal. Curve lets you consolidate all of your bank cards into a single Curve card and app to make it easier to manage your spending and access other benefits. |
| Dozens | 2018 | Money Dashboard gives you a clear overview of your spending using graphs and tables. You are able to add multiple current accounts, savings accounts, and credit cards to your dashboard. |
| Emma | 2018 | Dozens offer a current account that helps to grow your money, encourage saving and eventually invest. It aims to offer a whole range of financial services, including A current account. |
| First Direct | 1989 | The mobile app brings all your bank, credit card, savings, investments, and even pension accounts together in one place, for free, helping to give you more control over your finances. Emma lists all your regular payments, helping you to avoid using your overdraft and to spot and cancel any unwanted subscriptions. |
| Fuze | 2017 | First Direct is a telephone and internet-based retail bank division of HSBC Bank plc based in the United Kingdom. |
| Glint | 2016 | Gohenry is designed for children aged 6 to 18 and is managed digitally through an app for a monthly fee. It consists of a parent and child account combination, which sees parents use their account to top up the child’s balance and set limits on their spending. |
| GoHenry | 2007 | Fuze Card is a programmable smart card meaning it’s more a device than an actual card. Think of it as a bit like a smartphone or an ebook reader but for banking. |
| Holvi | 2011 | Holvi is a Finnish digital banking company that currently operates in 10 different European countries. It does business accounts for freelancers and small businesses, integrating basic business banking with invoicing and expense management. Holvi works both via the browser and through the app. |
| HSBC | 1836 | Dating back to the 19th century, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (or HSBC for short) is something of a household name – in 2018, it was the 7th largest bank in the world. |
| HSBC Connected Money | 2018 | Formerly Lloyds TSB Group PLC. Lloyds’ mobile banking app is designed to be an easy way to view pending transactions, make payments, and securely manage your money, all while on the move. |
| Lloyds | 1765 | Glint is a great travel tool. Not only can it be used anywhere via the app, but because gold’s value is recognized in many different countries you don’t have to struggle with exchanging currency. |
| Mettle | 2019 | Mettle is the first standalone business banking app to be offered by one of the high street banks, NatWest Group. |
| Monese | 2015 | Founded in 2015, Monese offers current accounts; it isn’t a bank, so deposits are not protected by FSCS but are held separately in a protected account. While Monese has challenger features such as up-to-date account balance and instant card management, not all of its accounts offer roundups. Accounts: Monese Plus. |
| Money Dashboard | 2010 | Moneyhub is a subscription service and is part of a wave of budget apps that use Open Banking to bring all your banking information under one hub. |
| Moneybox | 2015 | Moneybox is a saving and investing app that aims to make both a seamless part of everyday life. By connecting a spending card to the Moneybox app, you can set up an investment account from your mobile phone in a couple of minutes. |
| Moneyhub | 2009 | With Connected Money, you can view account information such as balances and transactions all in the mobile app, as long as the account is with any of the 21 financial institutions it’s currently linked to. These include Barclays, Santander, Lloyds, Natwest, and Nationwide. |
| Monument | 2021 | Based in Berlin, this app-based bank passported into the UK and is now experiencing cyber-security issues, losing customers as a result. It announced in February 2020 that it would be closing all UK accounts on April 15, 2020, due to difficulties around Brexit. Accounts: N26 Business, N26 Metal, N26 You. |
| Metro Bank | 2010 | The first high street bank to launch in the UK in over 150 years. Metro Bank posted losses in 2019 of £130.8m after an accounting issue, in stark contrast to profits of £40.6m in 2018. As a result, they have scaled back plans for new branches from 71 over the next three years to just 24. |
| Monzo Bank Limited | 2016 | One of the early app-based banks, Monzo had 3.5 million customers as of February, 2020. Focus FS LTD. Accounts Monzo Business, Monzo Plus, Monzo Savings. |
| N26 | 2016 | Nationwide Building Society is a British mutual financial institution, the seventh largest cooperative financial institution, and the largest building society in the world with over 15 million members. Its headquarters are in Swindon, England. |
| Nationwide | 1846 | Oval is a money management app that aims to make saving easier, especially for people whose financial habits aren’t necessarily great. It combines spending analysis, saving, and investing. |
| Natwest | 1968 | National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom. |
| Nimbl | 2005 | Monument, a new digital-first UK bank for the mass affluent, is heading for a 2021 launch after securing a Series A investment and restricted banking license from UK regulatory authorities. |
| OakNorth | 2015 | Provides business and property loans to SMEs. |
| Osper | 2012 | Osper offers mobile banking for families. Children have the independence of owning their own card, which parents can set up with a regular allowance. In essence, it’s a modern way of giving pocket money. |
| Oval | 2016 | Available for eight to 18-year-olds, Nimbl allows parents to track their child’s spending, while incentivizing small savings each month, all in the name of a healthy financial future. |
| Paypal Mobile | 1998 | PayPal: One app to securely manage, send and request money around the world in just seconds. Discover mobile payments with PayPal. PayPalMobile App, like other payment apps, lets you send and receive money to and from other PayPal accounts using just your mobile device. |
| Pingit | 2012 | Pingit, formerly Barclays Pingit, is a system for the mobile transfer of money in the United Kingdom. |
| Pleo | 2015 | Pleo is a growing fintech business aiming to streamline money management for businesses. |
| Plum | 2016 | Plum is a smart money management app designed to automatically set aside money without you even thinking about it. |
| Plutus | 2015 | Soldo offers a prepaid MasterCard that you can issue to employees – and an app that helps you monitor their spending. You top up your ‘spending account’ from your main bank account and can distribute money to individual cards from there. It could be a good alternative for business owners who are not eligible for a traditional business bank account. |
| Pockit | 2014 | Pockit uses smartphone technology and the best of traditional bank accounts to deliver a service which it hopes will work for everyone. |
| Raisin | 1973 | Raisin UK provides you with multiple savings account options through a single application form, speeding up the whole process and making it smarter. |
| RBS | 1727 | The Royal Bank of Scotland is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. |
| Revolut | 2015 | Pockit uses smartphone technology and the best of traditional bank accounts to deliver a service that it hopes will work for everyone. |
| Rooster Money | 2015 | RoosterMoney is a pocket money and chores app with an optional prepaid debit card for kids. We help families teach their kids the value of money. |
| Santander | 1857 | Revolut is a digital-only banking app that offers several accounts, including premium options. It sets itself apart from traditional banks with a focus on technology, low fees and flexibility. Accounts: Revolut Junior, Revolut Metal, Revolut Plus, Revolut Premium. |
| Shawbrook Bank | 2011 | Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in all global financial centers as the 16th-largest banking institution in the world |
| Smile | 1999 | The UK’s first digital bank, smile is known for its role in past technological innovations in banking. It now operates as a trading division of The Co-operative Bank, but its unique history ensures it’ll always remain a distinct entity. |
| Snoop | 2020 | Provides savings, business finance, property finance, and personal loans. |
| Soldo | 2015 | Connecting to your existing bank accounts and credit cards, Snoop centralizes all of your spending and presents it in one integrated interface that combines all of your accounts and transactions in one place. It’s an app designed to help you live, spend and save smarter, and hopes to take away the effort that customers would have had to put into researching and finding better deals. |
| Squirrel | 2014 | Squirrel is a budgeting app that encourages saving. It’s not the first app to do this but its personalised approach to helping you to save is innovative. |
| Starling Bank | 2014 | Starling Bank was founded by former Allied Irish Banks COO, Anne Boden, in January 2014. Accounts: Starling Business, Starling Kite, Starling Me. |
| Suits Me | 2015 | Hassle-Free Alternative to Traditional Banking, offering a complete banking solution for anyone currently residing in the UK. |
| Tally Money | 2009 | Tally is a digital bank account that works thanks to an app and its card, just like most challenger banks. |
| Tandem | 2015 | In January 2018, Tandem Money Limited acquired Harrods Bank Limited (‘HBL’) and then changed the name to ‘Tandem Bank Limited’. |
| Tesco Bank | 1997 | Tesco Bank is a British retail bank and has been wholly owned by Tesco plc since 2008. The bank was formed as part of a 50:50 joint venture between The Royal Bank of Scotland and Tesco, the largest supermarket in the United Kingdom. |
| Thinkmoney | 2005 | Thinkmoney stylized as thinkmoney, is a UK-based banking services provider that primarily offers current accounts for a fixed monthly fee with no overdraft or transaction charges. |
| Tide | 2015 | TSB Bank plc is a retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Sabadell Group. TSB Bank operates a network of 536 branches across England, Scotland, and Wales but has not had a presence in Northern Ireland since 1991. |
| TSB | 1810 | Tuxedo doesn’t run through an app on your smartphone, instead, you manage your money and account either online or through text messages. |
| Tuxedo | 2006 | Virgin Money UK plc is a holding company that owns Clydesdale Bank plc, which in turn trades as Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank, and Virgin Money. It was originally set up by National Australia Bank (NAB) in February 2016, when it was called CYBG plc. |
| Virgin Money | 1995 | Wally is a budgeting app that can help you keep track of your bank accounts, cards, and expenses – so that you know exactly how much you can afford to spend on that shopping spree you’re planning for next week. |
| Wallet by BudgetBakers | 2010 | Wallet is a budgeting app that can be downloaded on Android or iOs, or used through its web interface. However, the Android version of the app is the most complete one, while the iOs and web versions lack some of its useful features. |
| Wally | 2014 | Tide is a UK financial technology company specializing in accounts for small and medium-sized businesses. Tide offers FSCS-protected bank accounts provided by ClearBank. |
| Yolt | 2016 | Tide is a UK financial technology company specializing in accounts for small and medium-sized businesses. Tide offer FSCS-protected bank accounts provided by ClearBank. |
| Zopa Bank | 2004 | Yolt works with banks and card companies to bring all your accounts together into one simple, attractive budgeting app that you access from your smartphone. It can collate your current accounts, savings accounts, and credit cards, so you see at a glance what’s coming in and going out, and your balance. |
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