In this section
Secure banknotes
Stable prices
Safe and sound banks
A resilient financial system
We are the UK’s central bank
The Bank of England was founded in 1694 to act as banker to the Government. Today, our responsibilities are much broader.
To find out more, you can watch the 60-second video below. You can also read our short guides to the economy or visit our free museum.
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Hi, my name is Tiago, and I work at the Bank of England. The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom.
We’re different to a bank that you would come across in the high street. That means we don’t hold accounts or make loans to the public. We issue banknotes that you spend in shops. There are over three billion of these notes in circulation, worth over £60 billion.
We set the official interest rate for the United Kingdom. This is called Bank Rate. It directly influences the cost of savings, loans and mortgage rates.
The Bank of England also keeps a close watch on the financial system, so you can have confidence that your money is safe, in good times and in bad.
What we do
Provide ways to pay for things safely by producing banknotes for England and Wales that are hard to counterfeit, supervising payments services (eg Visa) and running core systems that allow people, businesses and banks to make large transfers (eg CHAPS).
Keep prices low and stable by setting the main interest rate, which affects spending across the country and helps keep inflation (the rate at which prices rise) on or close to the Government's 2% target.
Regulate major banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and investment firms in the UK via our Prudential Regulation Authority.
Stabilise the country's financial system by lending to other banks, providing liquidity support to financial institutions and ensuring failing banks exit the market in an orderly way without causing damage to the economy.
How we do it
Gather data from banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and mortgage companies, and publish much of it in our statistical releases.Conduct research and analysis and use it to inform our policy and operational decisions.
Send agents across the UK to engage with businesses and communities, and encourage discussion by organising research seminars and conferences.
Help everyone understand our financial system and what the Bank does by producing short guides to the economy and free education resources, and inviting questions from the public at our Citizens' Panels.
This page was last updated 12 March 2025