The 8.5 percent interest rate offer on the Alliance and Leicester Premier 50 and Premier Direct current accounts is being extended for a further 3 months such has been its popularity.
The high interest rate is guaranteed for the first year of having the account, which also provides a 0 percent overdraft option, again for twelve months. An Alliance and Leicester spokesperson suggested that people could earn a significant amount of extra interest by swapping to these current accounts as well as saving on overdraft charges.
As a nation we tend to stick with the same accounts, with 80 percent of current account holders having been with the same one for five years or more so perhaps this Alliance and Leicester offer can change that, for the benefit of the customer.
Abbey National owner Santander has reported profits for the first six months of the year up by 6 percent compared with the same time last year.
If a one off figure was removed from the figures then the actual profit generated by Santander, best known in the UK as the owner of the Abbey National, would have been a much higher 22 percent. This figure is also higher than analysts had predicted, although shares still traded down slightly on the day.
Santander are very much a global business, with connections to most parts of the world. This enables them to find many more opportunities to create profitable business since they are not tied to just one market. However even the Abbey National delivered good results for them, something that could not always have been expected with the economic situation currently facing UK businesses.
Citibank has revealed that it intends to reduce its portfolio having suffered at the hands of the sub prime lending difficulties in the USA.
Of all the financial institutions to suffer over the American mortgage problems Citibank felt the pain more than any other. The sub prime area of lending is one that they were heavily involved in. Due to this they are to sell around 20 percent of their assets over the next couple of years, worth around USD400 billion.
They have already announced the areas of business where the cuts will be made, namely consumer banking and securities banking. Citibank has stated it has an objective of generating revenue growth of 10 percent within 36 months, and these cuts are part of their plan. By freeing up resources they can focus more on the areas where growth can be achieved whilst reducing their exposure to potentially difficult markets.
