Close Brothers

Close Brothers offers two things to most customers: savings accounts opened directly with it, and finance for cars and other vehicles arranged through dealerships and brokers. It is not a high street bank in the way most people would recognise. It has no branch network for everyday banking, and most customers come to it either through a savings account or because a dealer or broker arranged their finance with it. Its savings business operates online, by phone and by post, while its motor finance business runs a help centre on its own website, closemotorfinance.co.uk, where existing customers manage settlements and get answers to common questions¹.

The firm has a long history. It was incorporated on 9 February 1924 and its company status today is active². It trades under a long list of names, including Braemar Finance, Close Brothers Savings and Close Brothers Asset Finance, all of which are trading names of the same firm³. Its main website is www.closebrothers.com³.

What Close Brothers offers: savings, motor finance and asset finance

Close Brothers' business splits broadly into savings and lending. On the savings side, it takes deposits from individuals, which it uses to fund its lending. On the lending side, its permissions cover entering into regulated credit agreements as lender and entering into regulated consumer hire agreements as owner³. In practice this means motor finance for cars and other vehicles, and asset finance and leasing for equipment, arranged mainly through dealers, brokers and intermediaries rather than directly with the public.

Its trading names show the shape of the business: Close Brothers Savings for deposits, Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing and Braemar Finance for equipment and vehicle finance, Close Brothers Commercial Finance and Close Brothers Business Finance for business lending, and Close Brothers Aviation & Marine, Close Brothers Beverage Finance and Close Brothers Property Finance for specialist sectors³. If you are comparing savings options generally, see our guide to savings accounts; for borrowing, see loans and credit cards.

Close Brothers savings accounts and who can open them

Close Brothers Savings is the brand under which the firm takes deposits from individuals. Because Close Brothers Savings is part of a UK bank authorised to accept deposits⁴, money placed with it counts as a deposit with a bank for protection purposes, covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £120,000 per eligible person⁵. That is the same protection that applies to savings with any UK-authorised bank, and you can check a firm's coverage on the FSCS website⁶.

Who can open an account is set by the provider, but the general rules for savings accounts apply. Accounts can be held in one name or jointly, and joint accounts let both account holders manage the account and withdraw cash, so they should only be opened with someone you trust⁷. Joint accounts are eligible for FSCS protection up to the same limit of £120,000 per eligible person, which means up to £240,000 for a joint account with one firm⁸. If you are weighing savings against other options, our guides to savings accounts and ISAs set out the choices.

Motor finance and hire agreements through dealers

Most people encounter Close Brothers not by seeking it out, but at a car dealership. Its motor finance arm, Close Brothers Motor Finance, provides finance for vehicles bought through dealers, and its own guidance to returning customers is to find the vehicle you wish to buy and then apply for finance with one of its partners, typically a dealership or a broker¹. This is how most car finance works: the finance is normally from a company separate to the garage or dealership, so the name on your agreement may be one you never chose⁹.

Car finance is a very large market. Around 2m new and second-hand car deals each year are bought using car finance agreements¹⁰. The common products are hire purchase (HP) and personal contract purchase (PCP), and the Motor Finance Redress Scheme covers certain of these, including hire purchase agreements such as PCPs¹¹. Under hire purchase, conditional sale, and lease or hire agreements, you cannot sell the car without the permission of the finance company, because the finance company has an interest in the vehicle until the agreement ends⁹.

If you already have Close Brothers finance and want to change car, the firm's guidance is to use its settlement process to pay off your existing finance and get a new quote for your next vehicle¹. If you fall behind on payments, car finance debt is treated differently from unsecured debt because the finance is secured on the vehicle, and free debt advice charities such as StepChange explain the options for car finance debt⁹.

How the charges and interest on Close Brothers finance work

This site does not carry the rates, fees or limits of any provider's products, and Close Brothers' own figures change over time, so check its website for today's numbers. What can be explained is how the charges on this kind of finance work in general.

With hire purchase and PCP, you pay a deposit, then monthly payments, and with PCP a larger final payment if you want to keep the car. The monthly payments include interest, charged on the amount outstanding. The rules require firms to indicate the rate or rates of interest that apply to a retail banking service in each statement of account provided to a banking customer¹², so the rate you are being charged should appear on your statements. Charges can also include fees for setting up the agreement, for settling early, or for missing payments, and the terms of your specific agreement set these out.

Close Brothers also lends in specialist areas where charging works differently. In bridging finance, a market in which several specialist lenders operate, interest is charged monthly but "rolled up" and repaid in a lump sum at the end, along with the initial loan amount and any fees and charges¹³. Not all Close Brothers products work this way, but it illustrates how specialist lending can differ from a standard loan: the cost may not be a simple monthly interest charge, so the total to repay at the end matters more than the headline rate.

Braemar Finance and the other names Close Brothers trades under

A common point of confusion is opening finance paperwork and finding a company name you do not recognise. The trading names listed for Close Brothers on the FCA Register include Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing, Close Brothers Asset Finance, Close Brothers, Braemar Finance, Close Brothers Commercial Finance, Close Brothers Business Finance, Close Brothers Broker Solutions, Close Brothers Beverage Finance, Close Brothers Aviation & Marine, Close Brothers Treasury, Close Brothers Savings and Close Brothers Property Finance³.

All of these are the same firm, so an agreement with Braemar Finance is an agreement with Close Brothers, and complaints or protection claims go to the same place. The Register also lists previous names the firm has used, including Blue Finance, Arrow Credit Card, Arrow Card, Arrow, Armed Services Finance, Close Brothers Commercial, Close Brothers Bridging Finance, Close Aviation Finance, Close Asset Finance and CA Trade³, which can matter if you have an old agreement under one of those names. Other motor finance lenders trade under similarly long lists of names: the FCA publishes a list of lenders covered by its motor finance work that shows, for example, the many trading names of firms like BMW Financial Services (GB) Limited and Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Limited¹⁴.

Banking with Close Brothers: online, by post and by phone

Close Brothers is not a full-service retail bank and does not offer the app-and-branch experience of a high street bank. Its savings business operates online and by phone and post, and its motor finance business operates through a help centre on its own website, closemotorfinance.co.uk, where existing customers can manage settlements and get answers to common questions¹.

For context on what to expect from banking generally: depending on the account you have chosen, you can usually open and manage accounts online, using an app, over the phone or in person¹⁵. Online banking, where offered, provides a quick way of checking your balance, paying bills and transferring money via smartphone, tablet or computer¹⁶. If accessibility matters to you, banks are required to make their services usable, and organisations such as Scope publish guidance on accessible banking and financial services⁷. Close Brothers' own pages set out exactly which channels it offers for each product.

How to open a Close Brothers savings account

Savings accounts with Close Brothers Savings are opened directly with the firm, unlike its finance products, which go through dealers and brokers. The general process for opening a savings account is the same as with any provider: choose the account, complete an application, and provide identity and address verification. Depending on the account, you can usually do this online, using an app, over the phone or in person¹⁵, though Close Brothers' own channels are set out on its website.

You will need to prove who you are and where you live, typically with a passport or driving licence and a recent bill or bank statement. The firm will also run standard checks required of all banks. If a savings account is not the right fit, the alternatives include cash ISAs, accounts at credit unions, or the full range of options in our savings accounts guide. If you are opening an account for the first time or have been refused one elsewhere, MoneyHelper explains how to open, switch or close a bank account¹⁵.

Complaints and where to get help with Close Brothers finance

The first step with any complaint is to complain to Close Brothers itself and give it a chance to respond. If it does not resolve the matter, the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at it. The ombudsman can take complaints from individual customers, or from customers who share a financial product or service, for example a joint account or joint mortgage¹⁷, and a complaint can be brought directly or through a representative such as a friend, family member or support worker¹⁸. The service is free.

The volume of complaints gives a sense of where issues arise. Financial Ombudsman data shows 1,539 new cases about Close Brothers in the first half of 2024¹⁹. In the first quarter of 2026/27 the firm's new cases included 2,103 about personal loans, 124 about second charge mortgages, 92 about Bounce Back Loans, 77 about money remittance, 33 about credit broking and 27 about Help to Buy and shared equity loans²⁰. In 2025/26, ombudsman data also recorded 883 cases about share dealings²¹. These figures cover all products sold by the firm and its various trading names, and they are counts of complaints opened, not findings against the firm.

For motor finance specifically, there is a further route. Complaints about commission in car finance agreements can be taken to the ombudsman²², and the Motor Finance Redress Scheme covers certain motor finance agreements, including hire purchase agreements such as PCPs¹¹. Free, impartial help is available from MoneyHelper and from debt charities if the complaint relates to money you owe.

FSCS protection for Close Brothers savings

Money saved with Close Brothers Savings is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which covers eligible deposits held with a UK establishment of the firm up to a total of £120,000⁴. FSCS protects eligible deposits up to £120,000 per eligible person⁵. Joint accounts are eligible for FSCS protection up to the same limit per person, so FSCS would protect up to £240,000 of savings in a joint account⁸.

Two things are worth checking. First, because Close Brothers trades under many names, deposits held under different trading names of the same firm count together towards one limit, so splitting money between Close Brothers Savings and another of the firm's brands does not increase protection. Second, FSCS protection covers deposits and certain other claims, not everything: it protects mortgage advice, for example²³, but investment products carry different rules. You can check whether your money is protected using the FSCS protection checker⁶. Our consumer protection guide explains the wider framework.