Santander Cards wins top industry award

For the second consecutive year, Santander Cards has scooped one of the top industry honours, being voted Best Cards Provider in the 2009 Personal Finance Awards.

The awards, now in their eleventh year, aim to recognise the industry's achievements and celebrate the many new initiatives and credit card programmes from across the UK.

Santander Cards saw off some stiff competition in this category, which received entries from Capital One, Halifax, Lloyds TSB and Virgin among others. The Best Cards Provider award recognises long-term value, commitment to product development, understanding consumers' needs, innovation and also included a secret shopper element to test front line customer service.

Roger Lovering, Managing Director of Santander Cards, said: "We are delighted to have been recognised for the second year running as the Best Cards Provider 2009, especially in such a well represented category standing against some very impressive entries. Since bringing our cards offering back in house, we have strived to fulfil our promise of innovation and commitment to our customers' needs, aiming at all times to offer added value through our products.

"Both Santander Zero and the Santander Credit Card are enduring successes that continue to evolve with our customers' needs. And we have used highly creative marketing strategies, the optimisation of internal channels and consumer research to create a truly customer focused environment.

"This award represents a great achievement for the team and will act as a stepping stone going forward by consolidating both our good work to date and encouraging us to maintain the high standards that we have set."