Barclays takes over Tesco Bank's savings, credit cards and loans

Barclays Bank UK PLC took over Tesco Bank's banking business on 1 November 2024, after the High Court approved the transfer on 17 October 2024¹. Barclays now manages all Tesco Bank credit card, personal loan, savings and Clubcard Pay+ accounts and products, along with balances for personal current accounts that closed in 2021 and Clubcard Plus savings accounts that closed in 2017¹. The Tesco Bank brand continues on existing banking products under a partnership agreement with Tesco¹.

Insurance products, travel money, gift cards and ATMs were not part of the transfer and have remained with Tesco Personal Finance PLC under the Tesco Insurance and Tesco brands¹. Tesco Bank is now a trading name of Barclays Bank UK PLC, registered in England No. 9740322, with its registered office at 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP¹.

The practical effect is on deposit protection. Because the two brands sit under one banking authorisation, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme limit is shared between them rather than applying to each separately². At the time of the transfer the limit was £85,000, and Tesco Bank told customers that from 1 November 2024 eligible deposits held with Tesco Bank and Barclays brands would be covered up to £85,000 across all the accounts they hold⁵. That limit rose to £120,000 on 1 December 2025, applying to firms that fail from that date². Tesco Bank's own transfer documents still refer to the £85,000 figure and note it has since increased to £120,000¹.

The Barclays brands covered by the shared limit are Barclays, Barclays Business Banking, Barclays Premier, Barclays Wealth Management and Tesco Bank⁵. Joint account balances are split equally between holders for the purpose of the limit, so a joint account holding £100,000 allocates £50,000 to each person⁵.

Why it matters for households

Anyone holding savings with both Tesco Bank and Barclays is covered once, not twice. The £120,000 limit applies per person, per financial institution, and a financial institution may take in more than one bank brand². Where combined eligible deposits across the two brands exceed the limit, the excess is not protected if the provider stops trading or becomes insolvent⁵. Tesco Bank's transfer documents state that if a customer chose to do nothing, nothing would happen, but that combined deposits over £85,000 would not be protected by the FSCS⁵. The same principle now applies at the higher £120,000 limit².

The change affects savings, current account balances and cash ISAs held with either brand. It does not affect Tesco insurance products, travel money, gift cards or ATMs, which stayed outside the transfer¹. Temporary high balances, such as money from a house sale, redundancy pay or an inheritance, can be covered up to £1.4m for six months in some circumstances².

What happens next

No further steps arising from the Tesco Bank transfer have been reported. Tesco Bank told customers there was nothing they needed to do to maintain day-to-day banking¹. A compensation arrangement for customers who moved fixed rate savings and could not match their existing rate ran for withdrawal or transfer requests made up to 20 March 2025⁵. Separately, NatWest acquired Sainsbury's Bank's savings, credit cards and loans in May 2025, sharing the limit with NatWest and Ulster Bank, and Virgin Money is expected to become part of Nationwide on 2 April 2026, subject to court approval².