Three of the UK’s most traditional names in the banking and homeowner loan sector are to disappear from the high street altogether by the end of next year.

The Bradford and Bingley, Abbey and Alliance and Leicester will all lose their individual identities by the end of 2010 and fall under the banner of the Spanish Santander group, who has managed to acquire two of the three institutions over the course of the past two years, as they have suffered financially from the effects of the credit crunch.

Abbey has been part of the Santander group since 2004 and their logo and corporate identity has already changed to match that of the parent company even though the name has remained for now.

The names may remain in certain areas, for example, Santander only bought the savings part of the business for the Bradford and Bingley, with the government taking over the loan part of the business and the large amount of bad credit loans which the company had on its books. The Abbey for intermediaries name will also remain for the sale of homeowner loans through the intermediary and loan broker sector.

Antonio Horta-Osorio, head of the UK business for Santander, emphasised the positive move for customers with any of the existing companies. He said “We know from speaking to our customers that they value and appreciate the strength and financial security that being part of a world class global bank offers particularly in the new global banking environment. Bringing together the three brands means it will be even easier for customers to manage their finances as they will have access to over 1300 branches once the change is complete. With this in mind the time is right to make the move to a single UK identity as Santander, a powerful new force in the UK banking.”