Not so long ago, only banks and traditional insurance companies offered financial or insurance products, yet today it may often seem as if even the local corner shop is offering financial products. That's not quite true, of course, but many more companies do offer financial products than used to be the case, and it can sometimes be difficult to decide who is offering the best deal.

And, while Marks and Spencers once offered mostly fashion products, with the only hint of a credit card being when you paid for your shopping at the checkout, today you'll find as good a deal on M&S credit cards as you will with the latest range of M&S fashion.

In fact, these days M&S, through its Marks & Spencer Money website, offer a range of financial products which would not look out of place in many banks, including M&S Motor Insurance, M&S Buildings & Contents Insurance, M&S Travel Insurance, M&S Pet Insurance, savings products, M&S Credit Cards, M&S Loans, and much more besides.

When you're shopping at Marks & Spencer online store for your summer outfit, or looking for furniture to give your home a makeover, then spend a moment to also consider products from Marks & Spencer Money. Offering everything from savings accounts and credit cards, to Buildings & Contents Insurance and Motor Insurance, there's a lot more going on at Marks & Spencer than you might imagine.

In particular, if you're thinking of travelling soon, then consider Travel Insurance from Marks & Spencer Money. With images of volcano ash still fresh in many traveller's minds, it's good to remember there were many travellers who ended up wishing they had spent just a few pounds extra to obtain travel insurance for their trip. Of course, unfortunately, after the event is too late!

In fact, had you purchased travel insurance from Marks & Spencer Money, you would have been in good hands; within just a short time of the volcanic ash disruptions, visitors to the Marks & Spencer Money website would have seen a message stating that although claims relating to volcanic eruptions are not normally covered by travel insurance, that on this particular occasion, they would "allow claims from UK customers affected by the volcanic ash that has recently grounded flights."