Santander Rewards Customers With New Santander 123 Cashback Credit Card

LONDON, August 26, 2011 -

• Rewarding customers with monthly cashback on everyday spend
• 1 per cent cashback on supermarket spend
• 2 per cent on department store spend
• 3 per cent on fuel spend
• Expected average yearly cashback amount of £176

Santander has announced today that it will launch its revolutionary new Santander 123 Cashback Credit Card on 5 September 2011, offering customers cashback on their everyday spend^[1] - the first card of its type to offer these cashback amounts on a monthly basis.

With the cost of buying everyday items such as supermarket shopping and petrol continuing to increase, the new Santander card has been designed to reward customers’ loyalty by offering them:

• 1 per cent cashback on supermarket spending
• 2 per cent cashback on department store spending
• 3 per cent cashback on fuel spend (capped at £9.00 per month)^[2]

The Santander 123 Cashback Credit Card is available to all new or existing Santander customers. New customers applying for a Santander current account and using our specialist switching service will also be rewarded with £100 - this offer is available until 6 November 2011^[3].

The 123 Cashback Credit Card has an annual fee of £24 and comes with a competitive purchase borrowing rate of 18.9 per cent (variable) - representative 22.8 per cent APR (variable) including fee.

Based on average household spend, customers will earn around £176 cashback per annum. For families with two children, the cashback could be even higher - up to £217 cashback per annum while single households could also earn up to £189 per annum - every year.^[4]

Callum Gibson, Managing Director of Santander Cards, said: “Our aim is to provide our customers with real long term value as opposed to short term benefits and the new Santander 123 Cashback Credit Card will certainly do that. That’s why we’ve added a fee to this card as we want to make sure our customers are using this card for the right reasons.  

“The statistics speak for themselves that the cost of living is rising.  The new 123 card will help consumers with their everyday spending, by rewarding them with monthly cashback on any spend they make in supermarkets, department stores and at petrol stations. We estimate that every year, on average a family will receive £176 cashback on their annual spend - a truly unique offering in today’s cashback card market. We’re very excited to be bucking the trend for Balance Transfer cards, changing the way customers use their credit card as we will be rewarding their loyalty over the long term. The Santander 123 Cashback Credit Card is our latest product to offer real value to our customers.”^[5]

Customers can apply for the Santander 123 Cashback Credit Card at www.santander.co.uk, over the phone on 0800 032 4265 or in any one of Santander’s 1,400 UK branches.

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

                      Monthly                                Total
    Card provider     cashback    Year 1   Year 2   Year 3   cashback**

    Santander 123     Yes         GBP176   GBP176   GBP176   GBP528
    Capital One       No          GBP164   GBP103   GBP103   GBP370
    MBNA              No          GBP126   GBP126   GBP126   GBP378
    American Express  No          GBP182   GBP122   GBP122   GBP426
    The AA            No          GBP113   GBP113   GBP113   GBP339

** Based on average household weekly spend sourced from National Statistics, Family Spend 2010 Edition. Calculations based on product details as of 15 August 2011. Capital One and AMEX reward based on a blended cashback rate

+  But must be an AA member (£28 minimum per year)

1. Cashback is credited monthly in to the customer’s account.
2. Petrol cashback is capped at £9.00 per month (£300 spend)
3. Customers will still be able to apply for the Santander credit card but Santander Zero will no longer be available to new customers.  The Santander 123 Cashback Credit Card is available to new and existing Santander customers.  New customers applying for a Santander current account and using our specialist switching service will also be rewarded with £100. This offer is available until 6 November 2011.
4. ONS Family Spending 2010 edition
5. The Santander 123 Cashback Credit Card has an interest free period of 56 days.

About Us

Santander UK plc is a full-service retail and commercial bank providing services such as Santander life insurance, saving accounts and mortgages to 25 million customers in more than 1,400 branches and around 4,200 cash machines. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander.

Banco Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N, BNC.LN) is a retail and commercial bank, based in Spain, with a presence in 10 main markets. Santander is the largest bank in the euro zone and tenth in the world by market capitalization. Founded in 1857, Santander had EUR 1,374 billion in managed funds, more than 100 million customers, 14,679 branches - more than any other international bank - and 190,000 employees at the close of June 2011. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America. Furthermore, it has significant positions in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany, Poland and the U.S. northeast. Santander Consumer Finance operates in the Group’s core markets as well as in the Nordic region. In the first half of 2011, Grupo Santander registered €3,501 million in net attributable profit.

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