Who are the main credit card companies and credit card providers in the UK? Is there a UK credit card list? Is there a list of British credit card companies?
We see all of the above questions, regularly, as UK card customers look for details about the banks, and credit card providers currently operating in the UK card market.
Ten years ago, there were over 140 UK credit cards available with 0% introductory offers. However today, there are just over 60 UK credit cards available online with 0 percent credit card offers.
Credit Card Companies UK
As can be seen above, the number of 0% credit cards available to UK customers, has dropped substantially. However, the number of UK credit card companies has not reduced by nearly as much. Many of the UK credit card providers, and banks, have simply reduced the number of credit cards, that they now offer to new customers.
However, some UK card companies have also been taken over by their competitors. This includes Barclaycard buying Egg and Goldfish in the past, as well as the more recent Lloyds takeover of MBNA, for example.
Some other card providers have withdrawn from the UK credit card market over the years. This includes Morgan Stanley, Citibank, and Bank of Ireland, for example. JaJa which took over the AA credit card and Post Office cards, is another company to recently withdraw from the UK market.
Credit Card Providers UK
Below is a list of UK credit card companies. These are the banks and other financial firms in the UK, that are currently active, and issuing cards to new customers. Most of these providers do not require a new credit card customer, to be an existing customer of the bank. A small number of banks do, however, provide their credit card offers for existing customers only.
Many of these UK banks and card companies can now offer an instant credit card. This is where the customer gets an online approval decision at the end of the card application process.
- American Express
- Barclaycard
- Capital One
- The Co-operative Bank
- Danske Bank
- Bank of Scotland
- HSBC Bank
- Lloyds Bank
- MBNA
- Nationwide
- NatWest
- New Day
- Sainsbury’s Bank
- Santander
- Tesco Bank
- TSB
- Vanquis Bank
- Virgin Money
Some popular featured 0% credit card offers available from a selection of these UK credit card providers can be seen below.
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- 0% interest for up to 24 months on balance transfers made within first 60 days of account opening
- 3.49% balance transfer fee applies (minimum £5)
- 0% interest on purchases for 3 months from account opening
- At end of promotional period, balance transfers and purchases will revert to standard variable rate
- Worldwide offers and discounts with HSBC home&Away
- Manage your card online
- Annual Fee: None
- You have an annual income or pension before tax of £6,800 or more
- You are a UK resident
- You are aged 18 or over
- You do not hold an HSBC Basic bank account
- 0% for up to 26 months on balance transfers made within 90 days of account opening
- 3.49% balance transfer fee, minimum £5
- 0% on purchases for 3 months from account opening
- Collect M&S points every time you shop anywhere in the world with your card
- One point for every £1 you spend in M&S and one point for every £5 you spend elsewhere
- Manage account online
- Annual Fee: None
- You are a UK resident
- You have an annual income or pension of at least £6,800
- You are aged 18 or over
- You have not held a credit card with M&S Bank within the previous 12 months
- 0% for up to 12 months on balance transfers made within 90 days of account opening
- 3.49% balance transfer fee, minimum £5
- 0% on purchases for up to 20 months from account opening
- Collect M&S points every time you shop anywhere in the world with your card
- One point for every £1 you spend in M&S and one point for every £5 you spend elsewhere
- Manage account online
- Annual Fee: None
- You are a UK resident
- You have an annual income or pension of at least £6,800
- You are aged 18 or over
- You have not held a credit card with M&S Bank within the previous 12 months
- 0% interest for up to 16 months on balance transfers made within first 60 days of account opening
- 3.49% balance transfer fee applies (minimum £5)
- 0% interest on purchases for up to 18 months from account opening
- At end of promotional period, balance transfers and purchases will revert to standard variable rate
- Worldwide offers and discounts with HSBC home&Away
- Manage your card online
- Annual Fee: None
- You have an annual income or pension before tax of £6,800 or more
- You are a UK resident
- You are aged 18 or over
- You do not hold an HSBC Basic bank account
- 0% interest on balance transfers for 20 months
- 3.24% or 4.24% balance transfer fee on transfers made within first 90 days (minimum £4)
- 0% interest on purchases for your first 3 months
- Collect up to 3 Nectar points per £2 in Sainsbury’s, Argos, and Habitat
- Collect 1 Nectar point for every £5 spent on your card elsewhere
- Online account management
- Annual Fee: None
- You have a permanent UK address
- You have not been declined for credit in the last month
- You do not have a history of bad credit
- You are aged 18 or over
- 0% on balance transfers for up to 12 months
- 2.9% balance transfer fee
- 0% on purchases for up to 12 months
- Credit limit up to £8,000
- Online account management
- Annual Fee: None
- You are a UK resident
- You have a bank or building society account
- You are aged 18 or over
A comprehensive UK credit card list can be seen on our 0% credit cards page. This list of UK credit cards shows all of the cards available online, that offer a 0% introductory offer, on either balance transfers or purchases.
British Credit Card Companies
Some of these UK credit card providers issue cards under multiple brand names. HSBC Bank are one example. They have their own HSBC credit card offers, but they also issue the M and S credit card, and First Direct cards as well. HSBC also in the past, issued the John Lewis and Waitrose Partnership credit card, although this card is now provided by New Day.
In cases where a credit card company does issue cards under multiple brand names, then there are two issues for customers to watch out for. Firstly, a customer will usually only be able to hold one credit card from the card company at any one time. Secondly, balance transfers are not permitted between cards issued by the same UK credit card company.
Even if a card provider allows a customer to have more than one credit card, then these are unlikely to be credit cards with high limits. The card company is more likely to reduce their overall exposure, with smaller credit limits on each individual card.
The credit card companies in the UK, issue their credit cards using both the Visa and Mastercard payment networks. Both Visa and Mastercard credit cards are widely accepted in the UK, and around the world.
American Express is the only provider to issue cards in the UK using the AMEX payment network. In previous years, some companies, including Lloyds and MBNA had issued dual cards. These cards provided the customer with both a Mastercard, and also an American Express card. However, these dual cards are now no longer available to new customers, from any of the current British credit card companies.