Santander UK plc Credit Rating
Santander UK plc holds a blended long-term credit rating of A+ — the "High Grade" band, which is investment grade, with a stable outlook. That figure combines the latest long-term issuer ratings from S&P, Moody's, Fitch onto a single comparable scale, and indicates a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. Santander UK plc is owned by Banco Santander (public). A credit rating measures an institution's ability to meet its financial obligations — it is an opinion, not a guarantee, and it is separate from deposit protection.
Santander UK credit ratings by agency
| Agency | Long-term rating | Outlook | Last confirmed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitch Ratings | AA- | Stable | 10 Jul 2026 |
| Moody's | A1 | Stable | 19 Jul 2026 |
| S&P Global Ratings | A | Stable | 12 Oct 2026 |
Rating History Chart
Rating History
| Date | Rating | Agencies |
|---|---|---|
10 Jul 2026 |
S&P, Moody's, Fitch | |
15 Mar 2019 |
S&P, Moody's, Fitch | |
15 Jan 2016 |
Fitch | |
15 Jan 2016 |
Moody's, Fitch | |
15 Jan 2016 |
S&P, Moody's, Fitch |
Service record: complaints, incidents and customer survey
Complaints: in the FCA's 2025 H2 file (July 2025 to December 2025), Santander UK received 60,432 banking and credit-card complaints, 2.45 per 1,000 accounts. The bank upheld 45% of those it closed and closed 53% within three days. The previous period was 2.34 per 1,000, so complaints rose. Compare all banks.
Outages and incidents: Santander UK reported
2 major operational or security incidents to the FCA in the quarter to 30 June 2026 and 33 in the 12 months to 30 June 2026 (mobile app 10, online banking 17, telephone 2)
Customer survey (CMA / Ipsos, August 2026): share of Santander UK's own customers who would recommend it.
| Measure | Market | Would recommend | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Branch services | Great Britain | 63% | 7= of 13 |
| Online and mobile banking | Great Britain | 68% | 13 of 17 |
| Overall service quality | Great Britain | 55% | 13= of 17 |
| Overdraft services | Great Britain | 57% | 13 of 16 |
| Branch services | Northern Ireland | 59% | 7 of 9 |
| Online and mobile banking | Northern Ireland | 70% | 10 of 12 |
| Overall service quality | Northern Ireland | 55% | 10 of 12 |
| Overdraft services | Northern Ireland | 57% | 6= of 7 |
| Branch and business centre services (business) | Great Britain | 47% | 10= of 12 |
| Online and mobile banking (business) | Great Britain | 59% | 15= of 17 |
| Overall service quality (business) | Great Britain | 48% | 17 of 17 |
| Relationship and account management (business) | Great Britain | 45% | 17 of 17 |
| SME overdraft and loan services (business) | Great Britain | 54% | 10 of 10 |
| Branch and business centre services (business) | Northern Ireland | 52% | 4 of 5 |
| Online and mobile banking (business) | Northern Ireland | 67% | 2 of 5 |
| Overall service quality (business) | Northern Ireland | 53% | 3 of 5 |
| Relationship and account management (business) | Northern Ireland | 57% | 4 of 5 |
| SME overdraft and loan services (business) | Northern Ireland | 58% | 2 of 5 |
Latest News
Is Santander UK safe? What the record shows
The agency ratings above are opinions. What follows is the verifiable record behind them: each statement is taken from the source named beneath it, last checked 15 October 2026. It is information, not advice.
Banking licence
Santander UK plc is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the FCA and the PRA under Financial Services Register number 106054. cahoot is a division of Santander UK plc, and the Santander Business and Santander Corporate & Commercial trading names also sit on the same licence.
Source: Santander UK: is your money protected?, 15 Oct 2026TSB Bank plc, bought by Santander UK on 30 April 2026, remains a separately authorised bank (register number 191240, registered in Scotland). Santander UK states that the two banks currently operate under separate banking licences and that deposit protection applies separately to each.
Source: Santander UK: TSB has now become part of the Santander group, 27 Jul 2026Ownership and funding
All of Santander UK plc's ordinary shares are unlisted and held by Santander UK Group Holdings plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander SA of Spain, which is the ultimate parent. In 2025 Santander described the UK business as not for sale after reports of an approach from NatWest.
Source: Santander UK plc 2025 Annual Report, directors' report, 31 Dec 2025Santander UK agreed on 1 July 2025 to buy TSB Banking Group from Banco Sabadell for £2.65 billion in cash and completed the purchase on 30 April 2026 after PRA approval on 19 March and ECB approval on 14 April 2026. It plans to fold TSB Bank plc into Santander UK plc through a banking business transfer scheme in the first half of 2027, subject to court sanction.
Source: Santander UK press release, 1 May 2026, 1 May 2026Size
At 30 June 2026 Santander UK plc reported customer deposits of £220.7 billion (31 December 2025: £183.6 billion), customer loans of £240.4 billion and total assets of £312.3 billion, with the jump reflecting TSB's consolidation from May 2026. Before the deal it had 13.6 million active UK customers and about 15,400 staff; TSB added 4 million customers.
Source: Santander UK plc Half Yearly Financial Report 2026, 30 Jun 2026Profitability
Santander UK plc made a statutory profit before tax of £1,482 million in 2025, up 10% from £1,349 million in 2024. In the first half of 2026 profit before tax fell 31% to £517 million (first half of 2025: £746 million), mainly because of a £179 million increase in the motor finance commission provision and a £62 million day-one credit impairment charge on TSB, which itself lost £25 million before tax from May to June.
Source: Santander UK plc 2025 Annual Report; Half Yearly Financial Report 2026, 30 Jun 2026Santander UK's provision for historical motor finance commission rose from £295 million in 2024 to £461 million at 31 December 2025 and £633 million at 31 March 2026 after the FCA's redress scheme (PS26/3) was published on 30 March 2026; £623 million remained at 30 June 2026. The bank decided not to challenge the scheme.
Source: Santander UK plc Half Yearly Financial Report 2026, note 21, 30 Jun 2026Capital strength
Santander UK plc's Common Equity Tier 1 ratio was 14.2% at 30 June 2026 (31 December 2025: 15.8%; 31 December 2024: 14.9%) with a total capital ratio of 19.8%; the bank attributed the fall to optimising capital alongside the TSB acquisition and resuming dividends. The plc does not publish a leverage ratio; at Santander UK Group Holdings level the UK leverage ratio was 4.9%.
Source: Santander UK plc Half Yearly Financial Report 2026, 30 Jun 2026Regulatory record since 2020
On 9 December 2022 the FCA fined Santander UK plc £107,793,300 (£153,990,400 before a 30% settlement discount) for anti-money-laundering control failings in its business banking division between December 2012 and October 2017, a breach of Principle 3.
Source: FCA press release, 9 December 2022, 9 Dec 2022No fine against Santander UK plc appears in the FCA's published fines tables for 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 (latest entry 30 September 2026), and no Santander entity appears on the Bank of England's list of PRA enforcement outcomes. TSB Bank plc, now in the group but separately licensed, was fined £10,910,500 by the FCA on 9 October 2024.
Source: FCA 2026 fines list, 15 Oct 2026Credit ratings
Santander UK's investor relations page lists Santander UK plc long-term ratings of A from S&P (stable), A1 from Moody's (stable) and AA- from Fitch (stable). Fitch upgraded the bank from A+ to AA- on 12 May 2026 after revising its bank rating criteria, having affirmed it at A+ on 13 November 2025; the holding company Santander UK Group Holdings plc is rated BBB, Baa1 and A.
Source: Santander UK credit ratings, 26 Jun 2026Deposit protection
Eligible deposits with Santander UK plc are protected by the FSCS up to £120,000 per depositor, the limit for failures on or after 1 December 2025 (£240,000 for a two-person joint account). Santander, cahoot, Santander Business and Santander Corporate & Commercial balances count together against that one limit; TSB has its own separate £120,000 limit until the planned 2027 transfer.
Source: Santander UK: is your money protected?, 27 Jul 2026Operational incidents
On 6 March 2025 Santander UK's mobile banking, telephone banking, branch systems and card payments were disrupted from about midday until the evening; the bank said any customer financially affected would not be left out of pocket. On 25 September 2026 online and mobile banking were unavailable from mid-morning until mid-afternoon.
Source: Irish News / PA report, 25 September 2026, 25 Sep 2026Santander UK's largest open exposure is motor finance: the Supreme Court's 1 August 2025 judgment rejected the bribery and fiduciary claims against lenders but upheld an unfair-relationship claim, and the FCA's redress scheme followed in March 2026. A Competition Appeal Tribunal claim against Santander Consumer (UK) plc and Santander UK plc is stayed until the end of December 2026.
Source: UK Supreme Court press summary, 1 August 2025, 30 Jun 2026Frequently asked questions about Santander UK plc
Is Santander UK plc safe?
Santander UK plc currently holds a blended long-term credit rating of A+, which is investment grade and indicates a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. A credit rating is an independent opinion on an institution's ability to meet its financial obligations; it is not a guarantee and can change. Separately, Eligible deposits with UK-authorised banks and building societies are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £120,000 per eligible person, per banking licence (the limit rose from £85,000 on 1 December 2025). Where several brands share a single banking licence, that £120,000 limit is shared across those brands rather than applying to each one separately. This page is information about published credit ratings, not financial advice.
What is Santander UK plc's credit rating?
Santander UK plc has a blended long-term credit rating of A+, with a stable outlook. This blends the most recent long-term issuer ratings from S&P, Moody's, Fitch, mapped onto a common scale so ratings expressed in different agencies' notation can be compared directly.
Is Santander UK plc covered by the FSCS?
Eligible deposits with UK-authorised banks and building societies are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £120,000 per eligible person, per banking licence (the limit rose from £85,000 on 1 December 2025). Where several brands share a single banking licence, that £120,000 limit is shared across those brands rather than applying to each one separately. Santander UK plc is recorded with FCA reference 106054. Because protection follows the banking licence rather than the brand, check the current position and which brands share a licence on the FSCS website before relying on it.
Who owns Santander UK plc?
Santander UK plc is owned by Banco Santander (public). Ownership matters for credit ratings because agencies often factor in the likelihood of support from a parent group, and because brands under the same banking licence share a single FSCS limit.
What does a A+ credit rating mean?
A+ sits in the "High Grade" band, indicating a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. Ratings of BBB- (or Baa3 on Moody's scale) and above are considered investment grade; anything below that is regarded as speculative, sometimes called "high yield". Ratings are reviewed periodically and can be upgraded or downgraded.
What is Santander UK plc's Fitch rating?
Fitch rates Santander UK plc AA- (long-term) with a stable outlook, as read from the bank's own published disclosures and last confirmed on 10 July 2026. Together with the other agencies' ratings this gives the blended A+ shown on this page.
What is Santander UK plc's Moody's rating?
Moody's rates Santander UK plc A1 (long-term) with a stable outlook, as read from the bank's own published disclosures and last confirmed on 19 July 2026. Together with the other agencies' ratings this gives the blended A+ shown on this page.
What is Santander UK plc's S&P rating?
S&P rates Santander UK plc A (long-term) with a stable outlook, as read from the bank's own published disclosures and last confirmed on 12 October 2026. Together with the other agencies' ratings this gives the blended A+ shown on this page.
When did Santander UK plc's credit rating last change?
Santander UK plc's blended rating has stood at A+ since 10 July 2026, the most recent change in our records. Ratings are re-checked automatically and this page updates when an agency revises its assessment.
Is Santander UK a real bank?
Santander UK plc is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the FCA and the PRA under Financial Services Register number 106054. cahoot is a division of Santander UK plc, and the Santander Business and Santander Corporate & Commercial trading names also sit on the same licence.
Is Santander UK profitable?
Santander UK plc made a statutory profit before tax of £1,482 million in 2025, up 10% from £1,349 million in 2024. In the first half of 2026 profit before tax fell 31% to £517 million (first half of 2025: £746 million), mainly because of a £179 million increase in the motor finance commission provision and a £62 million day-one credit impairment charge on TSB, which itself lost £25 million before tax from May to June.
Has Santander UK been fined by the FCA?
On 9 December 2022 the FCA fined Santander UK plc £107,793,300 (£153,990,400 before a 30% settlement discount) for anti-money-laundering control failings in its business banking division between December 2012 and October 2017, a breach of Principle 3. No fine against Santander UK plc appears in the FCA's published fines tables for 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 (latest entry 30 September 2026), and no Santander entity appears on the Bank of England's list of PRA enforcement outcomes. TSB Bank plc, now in the group but separately licensed, was fined £10,910,500 by the FCA on 9 October 2024.
Who owns Santander UK?
All of Santander UK plc's ordinary shares are unlisted and held by Santander UK Group Holdings plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander SA of Spain, which is the ultimate parent. In 2025 Santander described the UK business as not for sale after reports of an approach from NatWest.