Changes to bank accounts (ring-fencing)

Some of you may be contacted by your bank to let you know that your account details have been changed. This is because of a government recommendation that requires large UK banks to separate “core retail banking”, which includes personal accounts, from investment banking.

If you are affected by this, the bank will tell you, and they will also get in touch with any person or organisation that you make payments to from your account. They do this to make sure those payees automatically update their systems so that all future payments are sent to the correct bank account. Our funding team will get in touch if we receive a formal request to update the bank account details held on your student record.

Make sure you are careful when dealing with requests from banks to protect yourself from fraud:

  • Don’t disclose security details like your PIN or password
  • Don’t automatically click on links in unsolicited emails
  • Don’t assume an email or phone call is authentic

The change is coming into place to support financial stability and simplify banking groups. It aims to manage financial risk and is known as ring-fencing.

Find out more on the government’s ring-fencing page.