WHAT IS A SAVER TO DO? ABBEY INTERNATIONAL SHOWS HOW YOU CAN STILL GET A GOOD RETURN ON SAVINGS.

With UK Base Rate now at a new historic low of 0.5%, a quick scan of the savings best buy rates reveals that, for the moment at least, finding an account which pays a high honest real rate of return over and above inflation is hard work. This is a situation which should of course change over time, as UK Base rate rises again to something approaching its natural long term average. But for the moment, where can you look to achieve a really good return on your deposits?

The answer, it seems, is regular savings. Saving regularly is something most financial advisers tell us we should all be doing anyway, whether for a deposit on a home or just to create an emergency reserve, but very few of us actually do set up a regular monthly payment from our main transaction account to a deposit savings account when we are living and working abroad.

Towards the end of last year Abbey International, which is part of the Santander Group with over 150 years of experience in banking and savings, launched a regular savings account which set new standards in rewarding those prepared to commit to transferring funds across on a regular basis from their main earnings. At the time it was launched in September 2008, the account offered guaranteed savings rates of 12% gross /AER sterling, 10% gross/AER for euro and 6% gross/AER for US dollar. Since then, Base Rates in these currencies around the world have all fallen back dramatically, but Abbey International has stood firm and not reduced interest rates on these three account options at all. What’s more, once the account is opened, these rates are then guaranteed for a full 12 months.

The Monthly Offshore Saver account is linked to a Gold current account, Abbey International’s versatile multicurrency offshore account with Visa deferred-debit card and ebanking facilities. To qualify for the new Monthly Offshore Saver, clients need to have their salary or another regular monthly income such as a pension paid into their Gold account and then simply agree how much they would like to transfer from their income each month. Any amount between £250 and £2,500 or euro or US dollar equivalent per month can be chosen, subject to a maximum of 20% of their mandated income.

Jane Matthews, Head of Client Experience at Abbey International, comments “With UK Base Rate at a record low of 0.5%, regular savings is probably an area many people have overlooked. However, with our Monthly Offshore Saver, it really is possible to access some fantastically high interest rates, whether your base currency is sterling, euros or US dollars. What’s more, these rates are guaranteed for 12 months once the account is up and running, so you do not need to worry about changes to interest rates for a whole year.“

For further information on offshore banking call + 44 (0)1534 885000 or log onto www.abbeyinternational.com

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For media use only and not to be relied on by consumers to make financial decisions.

Notes to Editors:

Abbey International is located in Jersey, a secure, well-established and politically stable financial centre, which is renowned internationally for its high standards of regulation. Jersey’s unique constitution and relationship with the British Crown dates back hundreds of years. This provides for a unique legal and neutral tax system that can provide significant wealth planning opportunities for the international investor.

Abbey international has a minimum balance entry requirement of £50,000 (or currency equivalent) across our portfolio of products. The minimum balance amount can be spread across a range of accounts, subject to the minimum opening deposit for each account being met.

All deposits carry the full and unconditional guarantee of Abbey National plc, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of the Santander Group.

Santander has more than 150 years’ experience in banking and more branches worldwide than any other international bank. Together, Abbey and Santander are committed to serving our customers, helping you make the most of your money. In 2008, Abbey won the Euromoney ‘Best UK Bank’ award, and Santander won the Euromoney ‘Best Global Bank’ award.

Abbey and Santander

Banco Santander, S.A., (SAN.MC, STD.N), headquartered in Madrid, engages primarily in commercial banking with complementary activities in global wholesale banking, cards, asset management and insurance. Santander had over EUR 1.079 trillion in funds under management at Sept. 30, 2008, from more than 80 million customers* served through more than 13,000 branches – more branches than any other international bank. Founded in 1857, Santander is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America and has a significant presence in Western Europe and in the United Kingdom, through its Abbey subsidiary. In the first nine months of 2008, Santander registered €6,935 million in attributable net profit, an increase of 16% from 2007, excluding capital gains.

In Latin America, (excluding Banco Real) Santander manages over US$200 billion in business volumes (loans, deposits, mutual funds, pension funds and managed funds) through 4,638 branches. In the first nine months of 2008, (excluding Banco Real) Santander reported EUR 2,167 million in net attributable income in Latin America.

* Includes, Alliance & Leicester, Bradford & Bingley savings and Banco Real.

For more information, see www.santander.com.

Media Contacts:
Guy Stephenson/Jennifer Duffy
Nacelle Ltd
020 8333 9125
gstephenson@nacelle.co.uk

Jane Matthews, Abbey International, Head of Marketing & Business Development
01534 828137
Jane.matthews@abbeyinternational.com