Spanish Banking Giant Santander to Introduce New In-House-Built Cloud-Based Tech Platform to the World
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
Earlier this year, Spanish banking giant Santander announced plans to launch its Openbank digital offering. Now, as it rolled out its platform in the US, the bank also unveiled plans to introduce its system to the rest of the world.
https://x.com/bancosantander/status/1777727724343144498
Santander Expands New Platform To The US, Global Expansion To Follow
Earlier this year, Santander announced plans to introduce its new cloud-based in-house-built technology across the US, as well as in Mexico later during this year. The time has finally come, and the lender hired Swati Bhatia to lead its new digital-first retail charge in the United States.
Bhatia, who used to be the head of Goldman Sachs’ Marcus business, will take charge in the US. Meanwhile, Santander will shift its focus to global expansion. However, shipping its new system to the US market was an important first step, as the bank plans to use the US as a launchpad to bring its system further, to retail and commercial operators across the globe.
Commenting on the move, the bank’s executive chair Ana Botin said that the goal is to build a common platform for the retail and commercial businesses by using the bank’s own technology.
“It is coming together in the US this year, but we’ll be slowly but steadily rolling it out across our footprint,” she added.
Santander Views The Americas as Markets With Higher Growth Potential
Santander is the euro zone’s biggest bank by market value. It relies on ten key markets for the majority of its business, with the US being its third-biggest market by revenue.
The bank intends to use the US to build its tech platform for consumer banking, including digital-only banking and consumer finance. After that, the idea is to adopt it globally, which accounts for almost half of the bank’s overall profits.
Right now, Santander is in the middle of a transition from old tech to modern, cloud-based infrastructure. This is why its new platform is an important step, as it represents a big part of a wider strategy to extract savings and boost profits with better tech and lower funding costs.
Santander did not reveal the cost of the platform mitigation, but it did say that it managed to save over 237 million EUR since 2022. The new technology allowed it to save 50 million euros within the very first quarter following its implementation.
Furthermore, the bank also views the Americas as markets with a higher growth potential than European markets, which it considers more mature.
https://x.com/bancosantander/status/1799713041010835958
