Unknown banks

jbuchanangb

My wife opened an account with a so called challenger bank, Charter Savings Bank, seven years ago. Account still open, pays decent interest as a 95 day notice account, which has been increased as and when the Bank of England has been increasing rates recently, unlike savings accounts with mainstream banks which would probably be sitting at 0.1% for an account which had been open for more then 5 years!

Bigwheels1111

Two years ago I’d never heard of Atom bank, Ford money, Gatehouse bank, Tandem or Al Rayan.
Now I have accounts with all of them.

pridehappy

It's generally okay to invest in any bank or building society covered by the FSCS, as long as the bank itself is registered in the UK. You can also do some easy research online (for example, Trustpilot or just simply Google) to find out more about the institution you're investing in. 

If you are investing more than £85,000, go for accounts with separate banks or building societies. It's safer - as the FSCS covers you up to £85,000 per bank/building society. 

You can check if banks are covered by the FSCS here, I'd recommend doing it here instead of just taking information from the bank's website just in-case it isn't true. This site is ran by the FSCS themselves.

https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/check-your-money-is-protected/

ForumUser7

pridehappy said:

It's generally okay to invest in any bank or building society covered by the FSCS, as long as the bank itself is registered in the UK. You can also do some easy research online (for example, Trustpilot or just simply Google) to find out more about the institution you're investing in. 

If you are investing more than £85,000, go for accounts with separate banks or building societies. It's safer - as the FSCS covers you up to £85,000 per bank/building society. 

You can check if banks are covered by the FSCS here, I'd recommend doing it here instead of just taking information from the bank's website just in-case it isn't true. This site is ran by the FSCS themselves.

https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/check-your-money-is-protected/

I’ve found Smart Money People is also quite good for research