The article examines the development of 'bancassurance' operations in the UK. It considers the competitive and regulatory pressures which have contributed to these developments. It argues that there is a continuum in terms of the integration of banking and insurance. In the UK case, full bancassurance remains the prerogative mainly of the retail banks; the majority of building societies remain as 'tied agencies' which do not allow the full strategic integration which is at the core of bancassurance. However, there are strong indications that the larger societies see these problems and intend to move to full bancassurance, a process that may be assisted by the entry of European insurers as partners in this process. 'Putting bancassurance into operation' is a complex process as insurance selling continues to be seen as a distinctive skill needing to be differentiated from traditional de- posit-taking functions. The paper reviews three cases which differ markedly in terms of how they seek to balance the conflicting pressures of integration and differentiation. In the final section, it emphasises the need to create integration as fundamental to the customer's experience of bancassurance.