The Capital and Counties Bank was a London clearing bank, which operated 473 branches throughout the United Kingdom from 1877 until its acquisition by Lloyds Bank in 1918. The bank was formed as the Hampshire and North Wilts Banking Company, following the merger of the Hampshire Banking Company and the North Wilts Banking Company. It was renamed Capital and Counties Bank in 1878. The Hampshire Banking Company had been established in Southampton in 1834 and the North Wilts Banking Company in Melksham in 1835, from the private bank of Moule & Co. founded in 1792.