Santander Bank is the new sponsor of the TfL cycle hire scheme, in a
deal worth £6.25 million that will run for seven years.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2015/february/mayor-announces-santander-as-new-cycle-hire-sponsor

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-31655363

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/27/london-boris-bikes-painted-red-santander-sponsorship-deal

Some hack obviously ask in 'jest' (in the loosest sense of the word -
unlikely to get a booking at a stand up night) whether the new colour
had any political significance, to which Boris said "of course it has,
I'm now a dyed in the wool communist, and tomorrow I shall rename
Trafalgar Square as Red Square". Except of course he didn't - if he had,
I imagine the new sponsor might not have been particularly amused.

Regarding the schemes eponymous nickname, Bozza said "If anyone still
persists in calling them 'Boris bikes' rather than Santander I will
change my name to Santander Johnson."

I'd imagine that privately, Team Boris is pleased that Boris Bikes and
Boris Buses entered the lexicon. I have to say that I came round to
calling them 'Boris Bikes' in preference to 'Barclays Bikes' ('cycle
hire bikes' being a mouthful), especially given that the Barclays
sponsorship started under that unimpeachable doyenne of modern banking,
Bob Diamond - and said sponsorship was negotiated in a rather unorthodox
manner between Boris and his good mate Bob (which was subsequently
criticised in an Assembly report - I understand TfL now have proper
procedures in place for sponsorship opportunities).

A slight change of name is also on the agenda - from "Barclays Cycle
Hire" to "Santander Cycles", which will rather suggests to those who
don't know better that the scheme is owned, or at least fully financed
by Santander. Whatever, I quite like the idea of the bikes being bright
red. Oh, and Santander beat Coca-Cola, purveyor of services to dentistry
and diabetes, which is good.

I wonder how long the new and old branding will be seen side by side out
on the street - the TfL home page has a splash of Santander red, along
with a link to Barclays Cycle Hire lower down. The new deal starts in April.