Banking & Payments · United Kingdom · Europe

Opening a bank or fintech account in London

A plain-English rundown of how banking and payments work in London, United Kingdom — the regulator to verify, the currency you'll transact in, how local accounts are addressed, and the rails that move your money. Treat these as the checks to make before you commit, not marketing.

The essentials

Four things worth confirming before you open or fund an account in London.

Regulator

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

In the UK, any firm holding your money as a bank, e-money issuer, or payment institution must be authorised or registered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Before you move funds to a provider, look it up on the FCA Register and confirm the exact permission it holds.

Official regulator site

Currency

Pound sterling (GBP)

Local accounts and everyday payments in London are denominated in Pound sterling (GBP). Providers may also let you hold other currencies, but domestic transfers settle in GBP.

Account format

How accounts are addressed

Domestic sterling (GBP) payments in London are addressed with a 6-digit sort code and an 8-digit account number. You only need the UK IBAN when money is arriving from, or going, abroad.

Payments & transfers

Moving money locally

Everyday account-to-account GBP payments run over Faster Payments, which is built for near-immediate transfers. Each provider still applies its own limits and fraud checks, so treat 'instant' as typical rather than guaranteed.

Before you open an account

Confirm the provider is licensed — check Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) before you deposit money.
Expect to transact in Pound sterling (GBP) for anything domestic.
Have the correct account details to hand — the format above is what a local transfer needs.
Check the transfer rail and timing so you know when money will actually arrive.

Providers to compare

Verified finance and payment partners available to people in London. These are commercial partnerships — do your own checks against the regulator above before signing up.

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