Half of UK Adults Now Hold Multiple Bank Accounts as FCA Urges 'Back-Up' Strategy

Nearly half of UK adults aged 25 to 64 now maintain multiple current accounts to manage finances and ensure operational resilience. This shift toward multi-banking, highlighted by new research from Kroo Bank, follows recent guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority suggesting consumers hold secondary accounts to mitigate the impact of potential cyber attacks or system outages.

What was announced

Kroo Bank’s study of 2,000 UK adults, conducted by Censuswide, reveals that 49% of the population now splits their money across different providers. While 47% of respondents hold just one account, the average UK adult now maintains 1.6 accounts. This trend is most pronounced among younger demographics, with 58% of those aged 25-34 holding two or more accounts, compared to 37% in the 55-64 age bracket.

Geographically, Londoners are the most likely to diversify their banking, with 22% holding three or more accounts, significantly higher than the national average of 14%. The primary drivers for this behavior include organizational needs, such as separating bills from spending (39%), managing shared household costs (22%), and accessing rewards or sign-up bonuses (21%). Security is also a significant factor, with 20% of multi-account holders spreading funds to protect against bank-specific failures. This aligns with recent public comments from Nikhil Rathi of the Financial Conduct Authority, who urged consumers to maintain a second account with a different provider to guard against cyber attacks and power outages.

However, the data also points to significant inertia; 21% of people with an additional account only keep it because they never closed an old one. For younger users, product features are a major draw, as 22% of 25-34s opened a second account specifically for better mobile apps or budgeting tools, and 18% of all multi-account holders use secondary providers to avoid high fees when spending or sending money abroad.

"Britain’s relationship with its bank is changing. Nearly half of people now hold more than one current account, and many are doing it with a clear purpose, to stay organised, to share bills and to get more from their money."

Veronika Lovett, Chief Executive Officer at Kroo Bank

The companies involved

Kroo Bank is a UK-based digital bank that secured its full banking license in 2022. Positioned within the competitive challenger bank landscape, it seeks to differentiate itself by offering high-interest current accounts and integrated social features, such as bill-splitting, directly within its app. Unlike some of its peers that have pivoted heavily toward business banking or niche lending, Kroo has maintained a strong focus on the retail consumer experience, aiming to simplify personal finance through a transparent interface.

The bank operates in a market where consumer trust is increasingly fragmented and where the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) plays a pivotal role in shaping consumer behavior. The recent intervention by Nikhil Rathi at the FCA, encouraging the use of secondary accounts for resilience, marks a shift in the regulatory environment. This stance validates the multi-banking trend that Kroo’s research highlights, moving the perception of multiple accounts from a sign of financial clutter to a necessary component of personal financial security in an era of digital-first banking.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has previously tracked Kroo Bank’s expansion into broader financial services and its efforts to diversify its operations. In July 2026, the publication reported on a significant strategic move where Kroo Bank and 9Y Capital Strike Forward Flow Deal to Boost UK Property Lending. This partnership was designed to diversify Kroo’s balance sheet and increase its footprint in the UK property market, signaling the bank's evolution from a pure-play retail current account provider into a more diversified financial institution with interests in secured lending.

What this means

The rise of intentional multi-banking marks a definitive end to the era of the primary bank monopoly. For decades, incumbents relied on consumer inertia to maintain market share, but the data suggests that even when inertia exists, it now works in favor of maintaining multiple relationships rather than one. This puts immense pressure on legacy banks to match the niche features—like fee-free FX and advanced budgeting—that are driving younger users toward secondary accounts. Furthermore, the FCA’s endorsement of multi-banking for resilience creates a new marketing lever for challengers. The industry must now grapple with the reality that customer loyalty is being replaced by utility-based fragmentation, where the winner is the provider that offers the most specific value for a particular use case.