Botín: "La ambición de Santander es llegar a 500 millones de clientes pronto"

Santander's President Ana Botín has revealed the bank's ambition to nearly triple its customer base in the near future, aiming for 500 million clients. Despite the sale of its Polish subsidiary, which added six million users, Santander added eight million customers in the first half of the year, primarily due to the acquisition of British bank TSB.

Botín highlighted the importance of difficult decisions, similar to those that transformed the bank's headquarters in Santander, Spain. She compared the renovation of the historic building to the bank's transformation into a global open financial services platform, maintaining its pillars of responsibility and prudence. Botín previously announced her goal of reaching 500 million clients at an internal event in late 2024.

Santander ended the first half of 2026 with 182 million customers worldwide, the highest in the bank's history. The Polish subsidiary's sale to Austrian bank Erste, valued at €7 billion, resulted in a reduction of total clients to 174 million at the beginning of the year. However, the acquisition of TSB in the UK boosted the customer count by 18.6%, adding over four million new users.

Mexico and Brazil also saw significant growth in client numbers, with Mexican and Brazilian branches expanding their client bases by over 4% and 3% respectively. Santander aims to increase its global client count to 210 million by 2028, driven by diversification, international platform expansion, and presence in mature markets like Spain, the UK, and the US.