Santander quiere clientes fieles para reducir costes

Santander is striving to attract loyal customers in order to decrease costs. The bank is focusing on nearly 190 million clients worldwide, including 15 million in Spain. Santander aims for its clients to be a "principality," as this translates into more income from product sales and makes the loyal customer cheaper. CEO Héctor Grisi mentioned this during the presentation of the quarterly results.

Grisi also stated that Santander is concentrating on transactional deposits, as people need to keep their salary and invoices in their current account throughout the month.

However, there are concerns about whether Santander is successfully retaining high-savings clients at reasonable prices, particularly since the third quarter when the bank noticed increased competitive pressure on deposits in Spain. Keeping costs under control in Spain is crucial for both Santander and the entire group. The gap between Santander Spain's and its second unit's (currently Brazil) contribution to profits continues to widen, reaching 2,100 million euros, up from 1,600 million euros a year ago.

Santander is increasing its deposit portfolio, not only due to the impact of a 5,000 million-euro operation with a public institution in the third quarter, but also to counter the pressure from neobanks, foreign entities, and smaller competitors. The bank reiterated its efforts to grow its deposit portfolio in Spain, while controlling costs in the retail banking sector. It is unclear whether the focus on deposits is a concern or a mere coincidence.