Canara Bank

Canara Bank serves UK customers through a single London branch, taking deposits and lending. It is an Indian bank operating here as a branch rather than a separate UK-incorporated bank. The branch is at 10 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4UQ, and the UK website is www.canbanklondon.com¹.

For a consumer, the practical questions are narrow. Can you open an account, what does it offer, how do you complain if something goes wrong, and what happens to your money if the bank fails? The answers sit in the bank's own documents, the FCA Register, the Bank of England's list of overseas banks authorised to take UK deposits, and the rules that cover complaints and deposit protection.

This page sets out what the bank offers in the UK, how its London branch works, how to raise a complaint and how long it can take, when the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at it, and where deposit protection starts and stops.

What Canara Bank offers in the UK

Canara Bank's UK operation is a branch of an overseas bank, and its product range reflects that. The FCA Register lists two permissions for the firm: accepting deposits, and entering into regulated credit agreements as a lender, excluding high-cost short-term credit, bill of sale agreements and home collected credit³. In plain terms, it takes savings and it lends, and it does not offer the high-cost short-term products the exclusion names.

On the deposit side, the bank's UK fixed deposit account can be opened by an individual, a body corporate, a partnership firm, a trust, an association, or any other body the bank considers appropriate¹. That is a wider set of eligible customers than a typical UK high street current account, which is aimed at individuals.

The bank does not publish a UK current account in the material covered here, and it is not among the nine largest personal current account providers designated by HM Treasury to offer basic bank accounts⁴. If you are looking for an everyday account with a debit card and a switching service, the mainstream options are covered in the current accounts guide and the basic bank accounts guide, and the banks directory lists providers by name.

For savings more generally, including how interest is calculated and how to compare accounts, the savings guide and the ISA guide set out the rules. Canara Bank's own site is the place to check today's terms, because the figures change and this page does not carry them.

Deposits and lending at the London branch

The fixed deposit account is the clearest product the London branch offers. Beyond that, the terms that matter to a saver are the notice period, how interest is paid, what happens if you close early, and whether the account is fixed term or rolling. Those are set by the bank and published on its own site.

On lending, the FCA permission to enter into regulated credit agreements as a lender tells you the bank can lend under UK consumer credit rules, but it does not tell you which loans it actually sells or to whom³. A permission on the register is a boundary, not a product list. If you are considering borrowing, the loans guide explains how lenders assess affordability and what a credit agreement commits you to, and the credit scores guide explains what appears on your credit file and how long adverse information stays there.

One structural point matters for anyone weighing up a deposit. Because the UK operation is a branch of an overseas bank, the branch sits inside the UK regulatory perimeter for the business it does here, which is why the FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority both appear in its own description of its status². That is different from holding an account with an overseas bank directly, where the protections of the home country may apply instead.

Banking with Canara Bank in London

The London branch is a single location, so the way you deal with the bank is closer to branch banking than to an app-first current account. Complaints, for example, can be made to the branch in writing, by telephone, by email or in person, and the bank says all of those routes are subject to the same complaint-handling procedures². That tells you something about how the branch expects to be contacted: correspondence and phone calls are normal channels, not fallbacks.

If you are used to a UK current account with a mobile app, instant notifications and a seven-day switching service, this is a different model. The current accounts guide explains what a mainstream account includes, and the how to switch guide covers the switching service that moves direct debits and standing orders across. Neither applies automatically to a branch-based deposit relationship.

Cash access is worth checking before you commit. Most UK cash machines let you take money out with cards that use LINK, Visa or Mastercard, and the networks a card carries determine where it works⁵. The Financial Conduct Authority has also set out expectations on access to cash, and the Payment Systems Regulator publishes information on cash access and on account-to-account payments⁶. If you need regular cash withdrawals, confirm with the bank which network its card uses and whether there is a charge.

For anyone who needs help managing money, including opening, switching or closing an account, MoneyHelper publishes free guidance⁸. Where someone else needs to manage money on your behalf, Scope has guidance on doing that⁹.

How to make a complaint to Canara Bank

Start with the bank. Canara Bank accepts complaints at the branch in writing, by telephone, by email or in person, and all routes go through the same procedure². The bank's own document sets out what happens next, and it is worth reading before you write, because it tells you what to expect and when.

If your complaint is about a product sold through someone else, the route can differ. Where a credit broker receives a complaint about something covered by the relevant scheme, the broker must forward it to the lender and tell the consumer it has done so¹⁰. That rule matters if you bought a financial product through an intermediary and are unsure who is responsible for answering.

For complaints about a lender more generally, the pattern is the same across UK financial services: contact the firm, then make a formal complaint, then escalate if you are not satisfied¹¹. If you have given out personal information or see unrecognised activity on an account, contact your bank using the phone number on the back of your card or on a recent statement¹². If you think you have been the victim of a scam, Independent Age sets out what to do¹², and Take Five has guidance on banking fraud¹³.

In Northern Ireland, Consumerline can refer a complaint to the Trading Standards Service for investigation, or to the Financial Conduct Authority, which authorises lenders¹⁴. The Consumer Council also takes complaints online, by phone, letter or email¹⁵. Where a complaint concerns debt collection or bailiffs, StepChange explains how to complain about a bailiff company and how debt affects a credit file¹⁶.

Complaint timescales: from three business days to eight weeks

Canara Bank's procedure sets out three stages. If the complaint can be resolved by the close of business on the third business day after it is received, the bank provides a summary resolution communication confirming the resolution². If it cannot, a written acknowledgement is issued promptly and no later than five working days after receipt, confirming who will investigate². The bank then aims to send a final response within four weeks of receipt, with an update if that is not possible, and in any event within eight weeks².

That eight-week outer limit matches the wider UK framework. For most complaints, a business has up to eight weeks to consider a complaint¹⁸. MoneyHelper's guidance on current accounts says that if a complaint is about anything other than payments, the bank has eight weeks¹¹. The same eight-week period appears in guidance on joint accounts and in independent guidance on how banks must handle complaints¹⁹.

Keep a note of the date you complained, because the deadlines run from receipt, and the date you sent it is not the same thing.

When you can take a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman

If eight weeks pass without a final response, or you are unhappy with the response you get, the complaint can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service¹⁸. Canara Bank's own procedure confirms the same right: if more than eight weeks have passed without a final response, or the customer is dissatisfied with the final response, or at any stage, the customer may refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service free of charge².

There is a deadline on your side. A complaint must be made to the ombudsman within six months from the date on your final response¹⁸. Citizens Advice puts it the same way: you must complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of getting the bank's final response, or from the end of the eight-week period if the bank has not responded²⁰. Miss that window and the ombudsman may not be able to look at it.

The ombudsman's reach is broad but not unlimited. It can consider how a lender or debt collection agency has behaved when dealing with your account, for events from April 2007 onwards, after the lender's complaints procedure has been used²¹. It also handles complaints about savings and endowments, buy now pay later agreements, and unregulated collective investment schemes²². Where a complaint involves gambling-related harm, the ombudsman has separate guidance²⁵.

A branch of an Indian bank, regulated in the UK

Canara Bank is incorporated in India and operates in the UK through a branch². The Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority lists it among banks incorporated outside the UK that are authorised to accept deposits through a branch in the UK, with firm reference number 204642²⁶. The company is registered in England and Wales under company number FC012184, with UK establishment company number BR000783, and Companies House records its status as active, incorporated on 12 December 1983²⁷.

The Prudential Regulation Authority is part of the Bank of England and makes sure firms do business safely and reduce their chances of getting into financial difficulty²⁸. The Financial Conduct Authority regulates the financial services industry in the United Kingdom and can be contacted to report scams²⁹. Canara Bank describes itself as authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by both the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority². The FCA Register shows the firm as authorised with a status effective date of 1 December 2001³.

What does the branch structure mean in practice? The UK branch is supervised here for the deposit-taking and lending it does here, which is why it appears on both the FCA Register and the PRA's list of overseas banks with UK branches³. It is not a separate UK-incorporated bank with its own capital standing behind UK deposits in the way a subsidiary would be. For most customers the difference shows up in deposit protection, which is covered below, rather than in day-to-day banking.

If you want to check a firm's status yourself, the FCA Register entry is the authoritative source, and the FCA Consumer Helpline can be reached on 0800 111 6768 or 0300 500 8082³⁰.

How your deposits are protected

Eligible deposits with Canara Bank are protected by the UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme². The scheme protects money up to £120,000 for all banks, building societies and credit unions that are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority³¹. That is the current limit and it applies per eligible depositor per firm.

Canara Bank's own complaint procedure states a different figure: it says eligible deposits are protected up to a total of £85,000². The two documents disagree, and the bank's document is dated 2024 while the FSCS figure is current as of 25 September 2026². Where a figure is load-bearing for a decision, check the current limit directly with the FSCS rather than relying on either number.

There is a way to hold more than the limit safely. You can protect more than £120,000 as long as it is spread among deposit takers with different firm reference numbers, and each holds no more than £120,000³². That is why the firm reference number matters: two brands sharing one licence share one limit, while two firms with different numbers each carry their own. The FSCS publishes a checker so you can confirm whether a particular firm and account are covered³².

Protection has boundaries. The FSCS covers deposits and certain investments, and it publishes separate guidance on investment protection and on what to do if you cannot find a firm in its checker³³. Which? has published guidance on how the scheme works for savers³⁰. If a firm you are dealing with has failed or stopped taking customers, the FSCS checker is the quickest way to confirm what is covered.

Beyond deposit protection, the Financial Ombudsman Service is free to consumers and can look at complaints about how a firm has treated you¹⁸. If you are struggling with debt rather than savings, the debt guide sets out the options, and free help is available from charities including Christians Against Poverty³⁵. MoneyHelper also publishes free guidance on everyday banking⁸.