Abbey National plc is the United Kingdom's sixth biggest bank, and Europe's second largest mortgage lender, after Halifax (part of the HBOS Group). Abbey is now a subsidiary of Banco Santander. Abbey became part of Grupo Santander on 12 November 2004.
Abbey's registered office is in London and its main corporate centre is in Milton Keynes. Its savings and banking administration departments are both in Bradford, with a mortgage centre in Thornaby-on-Tees (which is rumoured to be under threat of closure). Abbey currently has Banking Contact Centres in Sheffield and Glasgow. Business Banking operations, both administrative and telephony, are also based in Glasgow, having been moved from Taunton and Newport early in 2005.
The Royal Bank of Scotland plc is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, which together with NatWest, provides branch banking facilities in the UK. Royal Bank of Scotland has around 700 branches, mainly in Scotland though there are branches in many larger towns and cities throughout England and Wales.
The Royal Bank of Scotland, along with Clydesdale Bank and Bank of Scotland, still prints its own banknotes. The current designs of the notes depict Lord Ilay (1682-1761), the first governor of the bank on the front, and Scottish castles on the back.
The Royal Bank of Scotland plc is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, which together with NatWest, provides branch banking facilities in the UK. Royal Bank of Scotland has around 700 branches, mainly in Scotland though there are branches in many larger towns and cities throughout England and Wales.