Banco Santander has outlined plans to create a global native digital consumer bank by merging it’s Openbank and Santander Consumer Finance (SCF) units.
The move one of the three initiatives announced by the bank’s group executive chairman Ana Botin at its Annual General Meeting (AGM).
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Under the first initiative, the bank aims to bring its operations across all markets together under a common business model dubbed as ‘One Santander’.
Botin said that with this new model “we will simplify products and services to improve the customer experience; we will also boost innovation, taking advantage our digital capabilities to redesign our distribution, and automate our processes on a common platform.”
The plan to create a global native digital consumer lending business by combining SCF and Openbank is also part of the second initiative.
Botin added: “SCF, Europe’s consumer finance leader, serves over 20 million customers in 15 markets.
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By GlobalData“Openbank is outperforming – and outgrowing – European digital banks in deposits, with a full-fledged retail product suite marketed on an innovative, scalable and efficient banking platform, a software built by us.”
These two initiatives are part of the group’s strategy to achieve €1bn in net savings in Europe by the end of this year.
Botin also said: “We are now committing to an additional €1bn net savings reduction in the next two years on the same perimeter”.
Under the third initiative, the bank aims to create and offer disruptive payment solutions to compete with bigger payment providers.
Botin said that “with the scale, the right talent, processes and governance, Santander will form a powerful ecosystem of payment solutions” and she added that the goal is to “offer solutions first to Santander’s banks and then to new customers and third parties.”
Earlier this month, Santander introduced a new account dubbed “Santander One” which comes without any fee for loyal customers and provides essential banking services.
