Spreading your money out to get full protection is easier said than done, as many separate banks are authorised as the same firm. Moneywise has compiled a list of banks and building societies so you can see how protected your bank is.

Once upon a time, people picked savings accounts based on interest rate and access. But now, security is at the forefront of many people's minds.

In order to get the best protection possible for your savings, you need to understand the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) rules. These protect each individual per bank up to £50,000.

But the term "per bank" is not as transparent as it seems. It refers not to brand but actually to the type of authorisation the institution has with the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Many banks in the UK are part of the same banking group, and in some cases are regulated by the FSA as one bank. If you have money in several different firms all authorised as the same bank by the FSA, then the FSCS will add up all your balances and only refund money up to £50,000.

If you are unsure about how your bank is authorised you can phone the FSA helpline on 0845 606 1234. Alternatively, you can check the FSA register - but bear in mind that this can be something of a minefield to navigate.

To make it easier for you, Moneywise has compiled a list of saving banks and building societies in the UK and how they are authorised. If your bank isn't on here, then get in touch below or try the FSA.

The authorisation refers to the savings side of the business - for example, SAGA is authorised on its own but its saving business is authourised as HBOS.

How to use the tables

Once you've found your savings bank, check out what name it is authorised as. Then, see what other banks share the same authorisation. If you have money in two of more banks with the same authorisation name (see examples below) and your total balance in all these accounts exceeds £50,000, then you should think about moving any money over that limit into a new account that has a seperate authorisation.

Check out the Moneywise round-up of the savings market and our round-up of the ISA market to see what top accounts are out there at the moment.

Main banking groups

Two banking groups to watch out for are HBOS and Santander and they both authorise several of their brands under their own name.

HBOS: The HBOS group of saving banks includes Halifax, Intelligent Finance, Bank of Scotland and Birmingham Midshires. It also supplies saving products through the AA and SAGA, and both these brands are authorised as HBOS.

In addition, the HBOS offers mortgages through its four banks (Birmingham Midshires through BM Solutions), as well as the now-closed brand, The Mortgage Business (TMB). HBOS also owns a 50% stake in Sainsbury's Finance, but to confuse matters Sainsbury's saving products have their own authorisation.

Santander: Spanish bank Santander is the owner of Abbey and Bradford & Bingley's saving business. It will also soon own Alliance & Leicester, and it also offers saving products through two other brands - ASDA Savings and Cahoot.

RBS: Unlike HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland tends to authorise its group of companies separately. So, for example, NatWest - which is owned by RBS - has its owned authorisation as does Ulster Bank and First Active.

However, money saved with The One Account is actually held by RBS, so it does not have its own authorisation. And Virgin Money, despite having its own FSA authorisation, also transfers its savings to RBS - therefore, under FSCS rules, it counts as RBS.

---

Bank name	Authorised as...
AA Financial Services	HBOS
Abbey (and Abbey International)	Banco Santander
Alliance & Leicester (and A&L International)	Alliance & Leciester (signs indicate post-acquisition by Satander A&L will keep its own authorisation)
ASDA Savings	Banco Santander
Allied Irish Bank	Allied Irish**
Anglo Irish Bank	Anglo Irish**
Bank of Cyprus	Bank of Cyprus*** (regulated by FSA and Central Bank of Cyprus)
Bank of Ireland (NI and GB))	Bank of Ireland**
Bank of Scotland	HBOS
Barclays	Barclays
Birmingham Midshires (also known as BM Solutions)	HBOS
Bradford & Bingley (savings)	Banco Santander
Bristol & West	Bank of Ireland**
C Hoare	C Hoare
Cahoot	Banco Santander
Capital One Savings	Capital One
Cater Allen Private Bank	Cater Allen
Cheltenham & Gloucester (and G&G Channel Islands)	Lloyds TSB Group
Citibank	Citigroup
Close Brothers	Close Brothers
Clydesdale Bank	Clydesdale (National Bank of Australia)
Co-Operative (and Co-Op Guernsey)	Co-Operative Group (pending merger with Britannia)
Coutts & Company	Coutts
Egg	Egg
First Active	First Active**
First Direct	HSBC
First Trust (GB and NI)	Allied Irish Bank**
Halifax	HBOS
HSBC (and HSBC International)	HSBC
ICICI Bank	ICICI Bank
ING Direct	ING Direct***
Intelligent Finance	HBOS
Investec Bank	Investec Bank
Irish Nationwide	Irish Nationwide**
Irish Permanent International	Irish Life and Permanent**
Julian Hodge	Julian Hodge
Liverpool Victoria (LV=)	Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society
Lloyds TSB (and Lloyds TSB Offshore)	Lloyds TSB
M&S Money	Marks and Spencer Financial Services
National Savings & Investment	Treasury*
NatWest (and NatWest Offshore)	NatWest
Northern Bank (GB and NI)	Northern Bank
Northern Rock	Northern Rock*
Post Office	Bank of Ireland*
Royal Bank of Scotland	Royal Bank of Scotland
SAGA (savings)	HBOS
Sainsbury's Bank	Sainsbury's Bank
Scottish Widows Bank	Scottish Widows
Smile	The Co-Operative
Standard Chartered Jersey	Standard Chartered
Standard Life Bank	Standard Life
Tesco Personal Finance	Tesco
The One Account (offset mortgages)	Royal Bank of Scotland
Ulster Bank	Ulster Bank**
Virgin Money (savings)	Royal Bank Scotland
Wesleyan Bank	Wesleyan Bank
Woolwich	Barclays
Yorkshire Bank	Clydesdale Bank (National Australia Bank Group)
* = 100% guarantee by the Treasury ** = covered by the FSA and the Irish regulator *** = covered by the FSA and another regulator

Building Society	Authorised as...
Barnsley BS	Barnsley BS (pending merger with Yorkshire BS)
Bath BS	Bath BS
Beverley BS	Beverley BS
Britannia BS	Britannia BS (pending merger with Co-Operative)
Buckinghamshire BS	Buckingham BS
Cambridge BS	Cambridge BS
Chelsea BS	Chelsea BS
Chesham BS	Chesham BS
Cheshire BS	Cheshire BS (pending merger with Nationwide)
Chorley BS	Chorley BS
City of Derry BS	City of Derry BS
Coventry BS	Coventry BS
Cumberland BS	Cumberland BS
Darlington BS	Darlington BS
Derbyshire BS	Derbyshire BS (pending merger with Nationwide)
Dudley BS	Dudley BS
Dunferline BS	Dunferline BS
Ecology BS	Ecology BS
Furness BS	Furness BS
Hanley Economic BS	Hanley Economic BS
Harpenden BS	Harpenden BS
Hinckley & Rugby BS	Hinckley & Rigby BS
Holmesdale BS	Holmesdale BS
Ipswich BS	Ipswich BS
Kent Reliance BS	Kent Reliance BS
Leeds BS	Leeds BS
Leek United BS	Keek United BS
Loughborough BS	Loughborough BS
Manchester BS	Manchester BS
The Mansfield BS	The Mansfield BS
Market Harborough BS	Market Harborough BS
Marsden BS	Marsden BS
The Melton Mowbray BS	Melton Mowbray BS
Monmouthshire BS	Monmouthshire BS
National Counties BS	National Counties BS
Nationwide BS	Nationwide BS
Newbury BS	Newbury BS
Newcastle BS	Newcastle BS
Norwich & Peterborough BS	Norwich & Peterborough BS
Nottingham BS	Nottingham BS
Principality BS	Principality BS
Progressive BS	Progressive BS
Saffron BS	Saffron BS
Scarborough BS	Scarborough BS
Scottish BS	Scottish BS
Shepshed BS	Shepshed BS
Skipton BS (and Skipton Guernsey)	Skipton BS
Stafford Railway BS	Stafford Railway BS
Stroud & Swindon BS	Stroud& Swindon BS
Swansea BS	Swansea BS
Teachers BS	Teachers BS
Tipton & Coseley BS	Tipton & Coseley BS
Vernon BS	Vernon BS
West Bromwich BS	West Bromwich BS
Yorkshire BS	Yorkshire BS

 

 

More on:

• savings
• ISAs
• FSCS
• building societies
• banks