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Santander kills British banking brands
Thursday, 28 May 2009 Writes Hazel Cottrell hazel.cottrell@consumerchoices.co.ukThe days are numbered for brands Alliance & Leicester, Abbey and Bradford & Bingley, as they will all be re-named Santander by the end of next year.
International banking giant Santander is re-branding its UK businesses acquired since 2004. Alliance & Leicester (www.alliance-leicester.co.uk), Abbey (www.abbey.com) and the savings business of Bradford & Bingley will all become known simply as Santander by the end of next year.
The banks’ existing 24 million customers do not need to do anything and will receive new cheque books, cards and any other documentation in due course.
After each bank has been re-branded, the banking giant Santander will have 1,300 branches in the UK and it claims it will keep this same number of branches “overall”. Customers of Abbey, Alliance &Leicester and Bradford & Bingley will be able to use any of these branches.
Antonio Horta-Osorio, chief executive of Santander’s UK businesses said: “We’ll continue to offer better value-for-money products than our competitors and remain committed to maintaining our branch networks and the teams that run them.”
Santander will write to customers before any changes take place, but the guideline dates for the changeovers are as follows:
- Bradford & Bingley savings business – Changeover starting mid 2009
- Abbey – Changeover starting early 2010
- Alliance & Leicester – Changeover starting second half of 2010
Chris Eagle, commercial manager at CreditChoices.co.uk, warned that customers should be alert to a change in the banking licences of the brands.
He said: “Currently, Alliance & Leicester operates under its own banking licence which means your savings with it up to £50,000 are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, regardless of savings you have with other Santander brands.
“However, when A&L becomes Santander next summer it is not yet clear whether or not it will be operated under the Santander banking licence – if it is this would mean you will only be protected for £50,000 across all the previous brands.
“So, if you currently have savings balances that total more than £50,000 across Santander’s brands, now may be the time to review your accounts.”
Safe savings – Is my cash protected? >>>