Abbey for Intermediaries Announces Move to One Intermediary Mortgage Brand

BRADFORD, United Kingdom, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Abbey for Intermediaries has announced that all its intermediary mortgages will be branded Abbey from 15 October.

Alan Mathewson, Managing Director, Intermediary Distribution and Santander Private Banking (UK), said: "Consolidating our intermediary mortgage business through the Abbey brand will enable us to align our product offering and increase efficiency. Our number one priority at this time is improving our service levels and focusing all our resources on one brand will help us achieve this quickly.

"Abbey for Intermediaries is a strong brand whose commitment and support to the intermediary market has never wavered over the difficult years. We believe the integration of our intermediary offering will help us provide the service and product offering to enable us to become the intermediary lender of choice."

To support the move to one brand, Abbey for Intermediaries is offering an additional 0.02 per cent for all new Abbey business placed between 5 August 2010 and 31 October 2010.

Abbey for Intermediaries is also launching a market leading two-year fix through its key account partners tomorrow, offering a rate of 3.90 per cent with no fee and available up to 75 per cent LTV to homebuyers.

The product, which has a maximum advance of 550,000 pounds Sterling, comes with a free basic valuation and 250 pounds cashback on completion for homebuyers. It is estimated that over 90 per cent of the intermediary market will be able to access it.

We will be announcing other enhancements to our product range over the coming months.

Intermediaries who are not currently registered to do business with Abbey for Intermediaries can easily do so by contacting our dedicated team on 0141 275 7900.

New Alliance & Leicester mortgage applications can continue to be submitted until 15 October, although to assist the transition to one brand, we will be making some changes over the next few weeks. The first of which is that we will no longer be accepting applications from new Alliance & Leicester mortgage customers over 75 per cent LTV from close of business today.

For more information about this announcement, intermediaries can contact their local sales team or visit www.abbeyforintermediaries.com. 

- Ends -

The information contained in our press releases is intended solely for journalists and should not be used by consumers to make financial decisions.

Notes to Editors

Banco Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N, BNC.LN) is a retail and commercial bank, based in Spain, with presence in 10 main markets. At the end of 2008, Santander was the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization and third in the world by profit.

In the UK, Santander operates two retail businesses – Santander, which was formed out of the Abbey and Bradford & Bingley retail network, and Alliance & Leicester. Together they have over 1300 branches, around 4,500 cash machines and they provide a full range of bank accounts, corporate banking services, personal loans and savings products to 25 million customers. Santander also specialise in mortgages and offer a useful mortgage calculator to help you calculate your affordability.

Alliance & Leicester will become known as Santander by the end of 2010. 

For more information please visit http://products.santander.co.uk/

Abbey for Intermediaries

In the UK, Santander operates part of its mortgage business under the Abbey for Intermediaries (AfI) brand. The intermediary business is responsible for the majority of Santander's annual mortgage sales in the UK. Abbey for Intermediaries is one of the leading specialist intermediary firms in the UK.

SOURCE Santander UK