Bankinter, S.A., is a Spanish financial services company headquartered in Madrid. It was originally established as Banco Intercontinental Español in June 1965 as an industrial bank through a joint venture between Banco Santander and Bank of America.

Bankinter

Bankinter has been listed on the Bolsa de Madrid since 1972 and is a component of the Ibex35 Index.

History

Bankinter started operating on June 4, 1965. The bank was founded as Banco Intercontinental Español through a joint venture by Banco Santander and Bank of America. In 1972, Bankinter became fully independent and transformed into a commercial bank.

Key moments in Bankinter's history:

1987: Launched its first high return account.
1992: Created its Telephone Banking department, marking the beginning of remote banking in Spain.
1993: Became the first digital bank after introducing electronic banking.
2005: Launched mobile banking, enabling customers to conduct transactions from anywhere.
2009: Purchased 50% of the insurance company Direct Line from The Royal Bank of Scotland.
2015: Acquired Barclays' retail business in Portugal, including 84 offices, and Barclays Life and Pensions.
2019: Acquired EVO Banco, incorporating 452,000 clients.
2021: The spin-off and IPO of Línea Directa took place.
2023: The European Commission approved the acquisition of the Portuguese payment service provider Universo IME by Sonae, also from Portugal, and Bankinter Consumer Finance (BKCF).

Operations

Bankinter provides banking products and services to individuals, corporate customers, and small- and medium-sized enterprises in Spain. It operates in Ireland through Avant Money. Bankinter has been designated as a Significant Institution and is directly supervised by the European Central Bank.

Financial Performance

Bankinter achieved a record return on equity (RoE) of 17.1% in 2023, with a ROTE of 18.1%, which it reports as the highest in Spain's financial sector. The bank's net profit for 2023 was 844.8 million euros, a 50.8% increase. Bankinter's balance sheet expanded by 5.5 billion EUR in 2023, with strong capital ratios.