Santander 'could bid for RBS' business banking assets'

Santander may make a bid for Royal Bank of Scotland's business banking interests, it has been claimed.

Banking giant Santander would be able to make a bid for Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) business accounts focused branches, it has been suggested.

An article in the Financial Times points out that under competition rules the bank will be allowed to put in an offer for the 312 branches that are to be sold by RBS and the Lloyds Banking Group.

Currently Santander - which owns Alliance & Leicester, Abbey and Bradford & Bingley - has less than an eight per cent share in the small business lending market.

The publication points out that it will only be able to acquire a handful of retail branches as government rules will prevent any bank having more than a 15 per cent share in any specific market.

Such regulation means that Barclays and HSBC will be prevented from bidding for RBS branches, something that could interest those on the search for business bank accounts.

However, newer entrants - such as Virgin - can take advantage of this and increase the number of UK accounts they can offer to business customers.

The news comes as the Guardian recently reported that Tesco has declined to bid for Northern Rock and instead will be focusing on its own financial services division which will offer business banking facilities, mortgages and other products from its high street stores.

About the Author:

UK Price Comparison website http://www.which4u.co.uk Compares Credit Cards, Savings Accounts, Fixed Rate Bonds, Bank Accounts, ISAs, Loans, Mortgages, Insurance, TV & Broadband and Gas/Electric bills to find the best UK deals