Cahoot

For other meanings, see Cahoots.

Cahoot is the internet division of Abbey National plc, a United Kingdom bank which since 2004 is a subsidiary of Banco Santander of Spain. Cahoot was launched in 2000 as the internet-based banking brand of Abbey, and at the end of 2004 had some 650,000 customers. Cahoot is based in Coventry, England.

History

Cahoot offered interest-free overdrafts and credit cards at launch to its first 25,000 customers, but was beset by technical issues that affected the website.

There have been several instances of security or operational failures with the website. The initial launch of the bank in 2000 resulted in the website crashing. One case in November 2004 was a security scare in which it was revealed that customers' accounts could be accessed without going through security procedures, after an update to the online banking system.

On 15 October 2008 and 16 October 2008, the secure section of the Cahoot website became unavailable, due, according to Cahoot, to a power outage in Spain. Although the main page of the website operated normally, it proved impossible for customers to log in to access their savings, leaving them unable to access their accounts and carry out transactions. Call centre staff were also unable to carry out any transactions for customers.

Customers were able to access their accounts again normally on 17 October 2008 [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/article4961443.ece Times report]

Prior to takeover of parent bank Abbey by Santander, Cahoot recovered from its launch and security issues to achieve over 600,000 accounts and a significant share of the unsecured lending market in the UK. It was consistently rated in Consumers' Association and Guardian surveys in the top three best banks in the UK for service and pricing.

Initially led by Tim Murley, the bank was taken over by Tim Sawyer in 2002 who was later succeeded by John Goddard in 2005.

While Abbey is set to be renamed, the Cahoot brand will be retained by Santander. However, bad debt has affected profitability and marketing spend has largely ceased, with most marketing staff being redeployed elsewhere. The steadfast refusal of Cahoot to introduce the Faster Payments Service, despite assurances in May 2008 that it would be launched in the Summer of that year, have not helped its credibility.

Cahoot's business model involves a very small operational staff, with IT services initially (2003) outsourced to IBM using their Software on Demand model.

Products

Cahoot offers current accounts and savings accounts.

In 2006, Cahoot ceased all new sales of credit cards, personal loans and mortgages.

In October 2009 Cahoot withdrew their Webcard facility. Cahoot's innovative Webcard generated a one-use card number for each online transaction (Controlled Payment Number), designed to combat fraud.