Banco Santander S.A., also known as Santander Group, is a Spanish multinational financial services company with headquarters in Santander and operative offices in Madrid. Santander has a global presence, with operations in Europe, North and South America, and Asia.

Banco Santander

It is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board. In June 2023, Santander was ranked 49th in the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's biggest public companies.

Banco Santander History

Banco Santander was founded in 1857. In 1999, it merged with Banco Central Hispano (BCH), forming Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH). In 2007, the bank officially changed its name back to Banco Santander S.A.

Significant acquisitions and expansions:

2002 Multiple acquisitions take place with the expansion of Abbey National into other areas of banking, with brands acquired including Scottish Mutual, Cater Allen, Lombard and Scottish Provident, alongside the merger with National and Provincial Building Society.
2004 Santander entered the UK market.
2008 Alliance & Leicester plc transferred to Santander UK plc after being acquired by Banco Santander, S.A.
2013 Santander acquired 51% of Spain's largest consumer finance business, Financiera El Corte Inglés, and a €470 million stake in HSBC's Bank of Shanghai.
2014 Santander purchased GE Money Bank in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and acquired a 5.1 percent stake in Monitise plc.
2017 Banco Santander purchased Banco Popular Español.
2019 The integration of the entire Banco Popular network was completed.
2022 Dodge & Cox became Santander's second shareholder.
2024 Banco Santander launched a share buyback of about 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) and raised its payout ratio to 50%. Also in 2024, Spain's Santander launched its digital bank in the United States.

Banco Santander Operations

The Santander Group operates across Europe, South America, North America, and Asia. As of 2013, it had more than 186,000 employees, 14,392 branches, 3.26 million shareholders, and 102 million customers. Retail banking generates 74% of the group's profit. The top markets by revenue in 2023 were Brazil (21.6%), Spain (17.4%), the US (12.3%), the UK (11.2%), Mexico (10.2%), Poland (6.3%), Chile (3.9%), and Portugal (3.6%).

Key highlights for Santander UK in 2024: