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Abbey gets Santander makeover

Abbey and Bradford & Bingley will be known as Santander from today, as the Spanish banking giant starts its huge rebranding project.

Santander will begin rebranding all its Abbey and Bradford & Bingley branches today.

Around 300 branches in the South East will be the first to undergo the name change and it aims to have rebranded all 1,000 of its UK branches by the end of January.

Emilio Botín, chairman of Santander, said: “This is a historic day for Santander as its name is firmly established on the UK high street.”

He added: “When Santander acquired Abbey in 2004, there were some who doubted we could make it a success. Today, there can be no doubts. Over the last five years we have transformed our UK business into one of the most successful banks in the country.”

Santander will make all of its 4,300 ATMs in Spain free to UK Santander customers from today. It estimates this could save its customers £2million in overseas charges this year.

It will also offer the Santander Zero account from today. The Zero account is a current account, available exclusively to Santander mortgage customers, that has no overdraft charges.

Furthermore, Alliance & Leicester, which is also owned by Santander and will be rebranded later this year, reintroduced its £100 cashback offer today.

Customers who switch to Alliance & Leicester’s Premier current account using the account transfer service, will now get £100 for switching.

Chris Eagle, commercial manager at Creditchoices.co.uk, said: “The Premier current account is attractive as it is, offering 6% interest on credit balances and a free-overdraft for 12 months, so adding the £100 cashback makes it a really superb deal.”

More information on Alliance & Leicester’s cashback offer