UK Sort Codes

diamonds

rainbowskies wrote: »

I find it very strange. I thought the sort code you had depended on your account holding branch. It was always the case with both my Natwest and HSBC accounts. When I moved to Santander, my sort code was 090128. I have discovered that people up and down the country have the same one. :eek:

090126 was my sortcode on all my a/cs with Abbey 1999 onwards.

pmduk

Don't forget Abbey National (now Santander) and Nationwide came to sort codes late in the day and could quite possibly have chosen to have centralised clearing?

noelphobic

pmduk wrote: »

Don't forget Abbey National (now Santander) and Nationwide came to sort codes late in the day and could quite possibly have chosen to have centralised clearing?

Girobank accounts have never had branch based sort codes - they never had branches and post offices were used for deposits/withdrawals.

They were taken over by Alliance and Leicester and subsequently by Santander, who had previously taken over Abbey National. I don't think anybody these have ever had branch based sort codes.

Girobank current account numbers were 9 digits long, which was not compatible with the UK banking system. The first digit of the account number was therefore used as the last digit of the sort code - 720001-720006. The sort codes for Scottish accounts began with 89.

#mustgetalife

rainbowskies

Okay, thanks guys. Guess I missed that.

Also Colsten, I guess I was just thinking about my own regarding Santander 090128. I actually opened mine in branch. It's not something I had considered before because my HSBC one is for the branch in my town.

Also, I knew that Santander took over Alliance & Leicester and Abbey but wasn't aware of Girobank. Thanks for the info!

noelphobic

rainbowskies wrote: »

Okay, thanks guys. Guess I missed that.

Also Colsten, I guess I was just thinking about my own regarding Santander 090128. I actually opened mine in branch. It's not something I had considered before because my HSBC one is for the branch in my town.

Also, I knew that Santander took over Alliance & Leicester and Abbey but wasn't aware of Girobank. Thanks for the info!

Girobank was taken over by Alliance & Leicester prior to Alliance & Leicester being taken over by Santander.

tianshu

Dear,

You are mentioning you are still using the book called "UK Clearings Directory". I am wondering by any chance you would help me locate the historical version of the book. I need the historical record of bank branches in the UK for research purpose.

I have 2009 and 2002 already. But I wish I could have others. I know I can borrow from some of libraries, but I want to have them since the book is reference book there are lot problems with copying.

Any information would be great help.

Thanks
Tianshu

pmduk

I think there used to be a Bankers almanac? Can anyone elucidate?

Ballard

pmduk wrote: »

I think there used to be a Bankers almanac? Can anyone elucidate?

The Bankers Almanac still exists. I have a feeling that the print edition may have been discontinued, though. The online version is something like £5k minimum per annum.

agrinnall

tianshu wrote: »

Dear,

You are mentioning you are still using the book called "UK Clearings Directory". I am wondering by any chance you would help me locate the historical version of the book. I need the historical record of bank branches in the UK for research purpose.

I have 2009 and 2002 already. But I wish I could have others. I know I can borrow from some of libraries, but I want to have them since the book is reference book there are lot problems with copying.

Any information would be great help.

Thanks
Tianshu

If you are a genuine researcher I would suggest that you contact the British Bankers Association using your business email address, and ask them if they can either supply the directories themselves or ask their members if they can help.

https://www.bba.org.uk/