The banking brands Abbey, Bradford and Bingley and Alliance & Leicester will vanish from the UK high street from the beginning of next year. The Spanish parent group Santander will be withdrawing these brands from the high street as part of a national rebranding.

From the first quarter of 2010 all of the 1,000 branches of Bradford & Bingley and Abbey will be renamed Santander, by the end of the year Alliance & Leicester’s 300 branches will complete their name change by the end of the year.

Thanks to the IT integration work being carried out at the same time any customer of Abbey, Bradford & Bingley or Alliance & Leicester savings will be able to carry out transaction from any of the 1,300 rebranded branches.

Santander said the move will deliver “a significant advantage” for its 25 million customers, as they will have access to hundreds more branches from early next year, and a global banking network across 40 countries.

Banking analysts have warned that the individual brands offered some of the best-value mortgages and savings accounts and feared that they may be withdrawn from the company rebranding.

Kevin Robinson, head of peekoo.co.uk, said “Customers of these brands should be aware that there could be some casualties from the rebranding process and keep informed as to how this will affect them. At present these three brands are currently offering a range of different products specific to certain customer needs and benefits. The three brands individually offered some excellent value products which were well priced that challenged some of the biggest clearing banks.”

According to PeeKoo.co.uk, one of the best-buy current accounts is the Alliance and Leicester giving an interest rate of 4.89%, including an introductory bonus, on balances of up to £2,500. Alliance and Leicester’s current account offers were not made available to existing Abbey current account customers in 2008 following the Santander takeover of Alliance and Leicester.

In January this year the merge of HBOS and Lloyds TSB reduced the high street choice and the Santander’s move to operate under one single brand is expected to reduce the choice even further.

António Horta-Osório the banking group’s chief executive has insisted that the customers will not lose out. He said “We’ll continue to offer better value-for-money products than our competitors and remain committed to maintaining our branch network and the teams that run them,”

“Our prudent approach and focus on branch-based banking enabled us to acquire the A&L and B&B savings business in 2008, despite unprecedented market turmoil. Since then, we’ve applied the same principles to both, improving the products and services we offer as well as the business performance of each bank.”

For more information on banking products visit www.peekoo.co.uk

PeeKoo.co.uk wants to alert customers that the Bank of England has cut its main interest rate close to zero, yet some internet-based loan providers are charging up to 10,000% according to a Conservative report today.

With a base rate figure of 1.5% which is a record low, Tory housing spokesman Grant Shapps said it was “obscene” that some of the country’s most vulnerable households were paying interest in four figures at a time when the banks base rate is so low.

The spokesman said that a Conservative Government would take action within the home credit market to create more competition. It is estimated that the home credit market is worth £3 billion a year and is dominated by only six companies.

Mr Shapps also said that forcing companies comply with the same data-sharing standards that is applied in the mainstream banking sector would allow customers to switch more easily between lenders.

Tory leaders plan for a free National Finance Advice Scheme which would help customers choose cheaper borrowing options. Following recent research from credit unions 79% did not understand vital terms such as APR (annual percentage rate).

Internet based lenders typically offer “payday” loans to offer them a quick finance solution until payday. Loans are typically up to £1000 and they are usually paid back in instalments within three months.

With online companies often ready to give you a loan decision within minutes to people with less-than-perfect credit histories you could expect an APR of well over 1000%. If a borrower was to take out a payday loan of £200 you could expect to pay back £250 or £300.

A report by Mr Shapps found one company called QuickQuid whose website details state that “depending on the loan term, typical APR’s will range from 1351.7% to 9889.3%.

He said: “When a constituent showed me a leaflet offering doorstep loans at 184% APR I decided to investigate how the home credit market operates.

It wasn’t long before I had uncovered payday loans of up to a staggering 10,000% APR.

“As the Bank of England slashes interest rates close to zero, we think it is obscene that anyone should end up paying 10,000% APR, particularly when the evidence suggests that these loans are targeted at some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

“This report proposes practical measures to combat the growing problem of exploding personal debt.”

If you want to take out a personal loan you can borrow up to £25,000; the main point is you get structured repayments so you know how loang you’re borrowing for and what it’ll cost each month. If you were to borrow on the cheapest credit cards it substantially undercuts the cheapest loans on offer; so in many circumstances credit cards should be the first choice. Check out the latest loan deals at www.peekoo.co.uk.

Are you trying to make existing credit card debts cheaper.

In most cases a loan will not be the cheapest option for you. Most credit card providers offer 0% balance transfer deals and they are designed to allow you to transfer othe card debts to them at a special rate, usually these rates are much cheaper than the best loan rates.

By going for this option it does not mean that you need to keep transfering debts between short term 0% deals; some of the deals available last until all of the debt has been repaid. Do try to ensure that you make at least similar repayments to what the loan would normally cost you each month

Are you borowing for less than a year or less than £1000?

Majourity of the loans available over a short period or low amounts are usually very expensive. Instead there are other options available to cut the cost. Some of the credit card providers allow new customers to spend on there cards at 0% for up to the first year. As long as you can make your purchase on a card and will definitely pay it off before the 0% deal ends, then this could be a lot better option than a loan with a high APR%.

Are you trying to cut the cost of an existing loan?

Most would think that by switching to a cheaper interest rate will save you money. Many loans, especially the older ones, have lock in penalties so even though you will end up paying less interest on the loan, when you add in the fine for switching, overall you end up paying more.

Secured Loans Vs Personal Loans

Most of the hisgh street loans available are un-secured. You would think that this option is a bad thing but it isn’t. The other alternative is secured loans the kind you’ll see all over the TV. For the following reasons i’d steer well clear unless you really have to…

Your home could be taken away if you fall behind on payments.

A secured loan means you are securing the debt on your home (or something else you may own), and if you can’t repay, the lender can repossess your home. With unsecured loans this is a lot less likely to happen.

Most personal loan rates are fixed, and secured loans are usually on a variable rate.

Majority of the un-secured loans available are on a fixed rate; from the start you know exactly what you will pay, and this will not change if the UK’s interest rates change or the lenders rates change. For the latest rates on secured loans visit www.peekoo.co.uk.

With secured loans the rates are variable, meaning the lender can change the rates when it likes, especially in a credit crunch when you really dont need added pressure on your finances. Many secured loans have seen rates doubling, hitting people’s pockets hard which is resulting in the falling behind on payement and in some cases having the homes repossessed.

Secured loan payments are usually stretched over many years.

Secured loan lenders often tell you that there is “one easy low monthly repayment”, this may sound good but this illusion is made by stretching the debt over many years, so you will end up paying more and more interest, costing you a fortune.

This is very important information and something you should take seriously if considering a secured loan. Remember secured loans give your lender the security, not you. A much better option is to take a normal unsecured personal loan than one secured on your house.

Secured loans are rarely the best possible option and should be considered as the last resort of lending. If you have a reasonable credit score then you should consider a personal loan first. There are other options like cheap credit card deals or even extending your mortgage.

Choosing the right loan

Some of the lowest interest rate loans can turn out to be the most costly due to hidden costs from the lender. Before you pick the type of loan you want to apply for decide the most important factors. How much, for how long?

The maths behind it is very simple; borrow as little as possible and repay as quickly as possible. When looking for a loan always base borrowing on what you can comfortably afford to repay as over borrowing can cause debts to build up. Also before borrowing question everything; can you avoid any debt. The PeeKoo loan calculator will let you calculate how much you can borrow and at what cost.

The Cheapest Personal Loans

Have a look at the best buy tables in the PeeKoo loan section to find the best rates available. The cheapest loans with out insurance, all you need to do is find the loan with the lowest APR (Annual Percentage Rate) of interest for the amount you are borrowing.

Please be aware that all the top loans compared in our tables are ‘typical rates’, which means only 66% of those accepted actually need to be given these rates; depending on your own personal credit score you may end up paying a lot more.

Visit www.peekoo.co.uk