Spanish banking giant Santander has today revealed a 13% rise in fourth-quarter net profit to a��2.2 billion (A?1.9 billion). Meanwhile the bank, which is the second largest banking group in the world after HSBC, said gross income grew almost 24% to a��10 billion. For the 2009 year as a whole, net profit was up 1% […]
Spanish banking giant Santander is to begin its integration of UK High Street banks – Abbey and Bradford & Bingley (B&B). Santander, which is the second largest banking group in the world after HSBC, became a household name in the UK when it acquired Abbey for A?9.5 billion, back in 2004. In July 2008, it […]
Banks are increasingly tempting their current account holders with mortgage offers, as they seek to become “one-stop shops” in financial services. Research from financial products analyst, Defaqto, suggests the number of mortgage offers available exclusively to current account customers is on the rise. According to the firm, Abbey offers free valuations and cash back on […]
Annoying neighbours are providing a major reason for Britons to embark on a house move, even in today’s difficult market. Information from Abbey Mortgages suggests that 95,000 homeowners have sold up in the last two years to escape the people next door, forming a significant proportion of the UK’s 680,000 home movers during the period, […]
Mortgage borrowers with Santander will soon be able to take advantage of a bank current account that attaches no fees to overdrafts, whether authorised or unauthorised. The Spanish banking giant is launching a a�?Zeroa�? current account on 11th January 2010 to coincide with its rebranding of Abbey, Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester to […]
Abbey and Alliance & Leicester are offering preferential mortgage rates to some existing customers. The lenders, both part of the Santander group, are enticing current account holders who have been with the banks for six months or more with new deals available in branch or on the telephone. The range includes fee-free tracker and fixed-rate […]
Abbey has captured 20.5% of the UK mortgage market. The share is up from 16.3% of gross mortgage lending during the six months to the end of June 2009. Impressively, the bank’s prudent approach to lending meant that arrears of three months or more stood at 1.34% in the third quarter of the year, compared […]
Abbey has been working out accommodation costs for potential first-time buyers currently in the rental sector and has discovered that for those living outside London, it is now cheaper to buy rather than rent. The good news is only for those who have managed to save a 25% deposit but nonetheless means that over than […]
Nationwide has cut rates on a range of its mortgages and is offering a two-year fixed-rate deal at 3.88% for home movers, at a maximum loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of 70%. A two-year tracker is available from 2.94% (up to 70% LTV), and for a three-year tracker, rates start at 3.14% for (up to 75% LTV). […]
Abbey for Intermediaries has launched a broker-only mortgage range with no legal or valuation costs attached. According to the lender, the new deal is the first of its kind to be offered to brokers and could save customers up A?1,650 in upfront costs. The Homebuyer Plus range includes a two-year tracker at 3.29% for a […]
Nearly half of UK consumers are failing to save any of their monthly income, research by Abbey found. Two in five Brits are not putting any money aside. However, those who are saving are managing to bank more cash than they were at the start of the year. The average amount saved has increased 26% […]
Abbey and Alliance & Leicester (A&L) are offering new customers a A?100 incentive to switch to their current accounts. The Santander-owned banks are offering the bonus to new customers opening an Abbey Preferred Overdraft Rate account or an A&L Premier Account from today. To receive the cash bonus, customers must fund the account with a […]
Santander plans to discontinue the 6% current account at its UK banks. The 6% + 6% offer, which pays new Abbey and Alliance & Leicester customers 6% interest on their current account and on monthly savings, will close later this week. Savers taking maximum advantage of the offer could earn nearly A?250 interest in the […]
Abbey, Alliance & Leicester, and Bradford & Bingley have announced the launch of a new two-year fixed-rate bond paying interest at 4.2%. Savers can open the bond with an investment of between A?10,000 and A?2 million. Any withdrawals incur a penalty of 120 days interest. The bonds can be opened by visiting any branch of […]
Abbey will be giving away A?50 every hour next month in a Facebook prize draw. The A?36,000 prize draw, open to anyone with a Facebook profile, has been set up to promote the A?50 cash bonus given to students opening a new Abbey Student Account. “This free prize draw is a great opportunity for students […]
The number of homeowners letting out a room to a lodger has almost tripled in the last year, research from Abbey Mortgages has discovered. Nearly one million UK households now include a lodger as homeowners seek to increase their income during the recession. UK homeowners could potentially earn over A?6 billion by letting out unused […]
Abbey’s 6% savings account for small businesses will only be available until the end of this month, the business banking provider warned this week. “The clock is now ticking and I would urge small businesses who haven’t already taken advantage of this offer, to do so before time runs out,” said Paula Ickinger, Abbey Business […]
Abbey Business this week launched two new bonds paying up to 3.2% interest and aimed at SMEs. The bonds, available to businesses with a turnover of up to A?1 million, are available for business savings between A?50,000 and A?2 million. The 12 month Fixed Rate Business Bond pays 3.2% gross pa/AER, maturing on 1 September […]
Santander’s UK banks are offering interest rates of up to 6% on monthly savings accounts and current accounts. Abbey’s Super Fixed Rate Monthly Saver and Alliance & Leicester’s (A&L) Premier Regular Saver are both paying the headline rate to savers who invest a fixed amount between A?20 and A?250 per month. However, there’s a catch. […]
Abbey and Alliance & Leicester (A&L) are together claiming to be the UK’s second-biggest mortgage lenders, behind HBOS. Both banks belong to Spanish group, Santander, which reported its half-year results this week. The figures reveal that Abbey and A&L were responsible for 16.3% of the UK’s gross mortgage lending during the six months to the […]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was A?741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. […]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees […]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to A?12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on […]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages […]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The a�?Mind the Credit Gapa�? report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than A?50,000 could have a credit […]
Monthly incomes A?22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by A?22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE […]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was A?1,186, more than double the average savings […]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though […]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Companya��s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailersa�� sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wongaa��s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A […]
First-time buyers take a decade to save for a deposit
Before the credit crunch it took first-time buyers two to four years to save up a deposit for a property but a quarter of first-time buyers now say it will take them at least ten years. In its latest Property Tracker report, the Building Societies Association (BSA) suggests that since September 2010 raising a deposit […]
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