Abbey National plc · London United Kingdom

There's little of the monastic about Abbey. The bank's focus on worldly things has helped make it one of the UK's biggest mortgage lenders. Although best known for its home loans and savings accounts, Abbey offers services to rival the biggest UK banks (Barclays, HSBC, and Royal Bank of Scotland). The company provides retail banking for consumers and businesses, wealth management, and brokerage services. Its operations include wealth management units James Hay (pension plan administration) and Cater Allen (private banking), as well as Internet bank cahoot. Abbey has more than 1,300 branches throughout the UK. Spain's Banco Santander acquired the company in 2004. Abbey will be rebranded as Santander by 2010. To read the full description, subscribe now.