Santander prioritizes "quality" customers over quantity
Seven out of ten new users of the entity are under 40 years old.
Santander executives admit they will likely fall short of the new customer acquisition target set in their strategic plan , which aimed to exceed 200 million customers for the entire group by the end of 2025. The bank ended the half-year with 176 million , according to the accounts for the first six months of the year.
According to the bank's CEO, Héctor Grisi , during the bank's recent half-year results presentation, there is a good reason for this lower-than-promised volume of deposits. "We are focusing more on quality and less on quantity," he argued.
Santander has partially shifted its strategy to attract new customers, focusing above all on "primarity," as Grisi explained, referring to growing among users who have a high level of loyalty to the bank and who therefore generate more business.
The executive believes that this growing importance of loyal customers is a necessary consequence of the simplification and user-focused strategy established in the transformation plan known as One Transformation, which, among other measures, is drastically reducing the product catalog and promoting the creation of common businesses and platforms.
Change the clientSantander's strategic approach seeks to expand group-wide digital platforms across its geographic areas , providing a user experience comparable to that of fintechs and combining this with the personalized advice and service of its branch network.
This means that the bank is attracting more and more digital customers (500,000 new ones in Spain in the last year) , which not only reduces the average acquisition cost of each new user , but also allows the size of the physical network to be adjusted downwards , explained Grisi, who added that at the same time Santander is managing to increase the degree of loyalty and business generated by each of them (an increase of 7% in the first half of the year).
Santander is also rejuvenating its customer profile with this strategy. According to the bank , 70% of its new customers are between 20 and 40 years old .
"One Transformation isn't just about costs, but also about more customers and better service," insisted Grisi, who linked this strategy to the increase in commission income recorded by Santander last year.
One of Santander's many commercial objectives is to attract younger customers. The bank is aware that neobanks have increased competition in the market for this type of customer.
"Every young person between the ages of 20 and 30 might open a Santander account, but they do their currency exchange and everything else with Revolut or Monzo, among others," explained Ana Botín, president of Santander, at the end of 2024.
The bank's top executives recognize a need to change the business model to prevent new competitors from gaining ground in the market. Consequently, the bank has intensified its launch of targeted campaigns for young people in recent months. The latest was launched this month.
The bank offers a €24 gift voucher to young people who open an Online Account (fee-free) or a Santander Account (free of charge for linked customers or those between 18 and 28 years old).
To benefit from the promotion, Santander does not require new customers to meet any contractual obligations. The prize is only awarded on the condition that they make a deposit of €50 and maintain it for at least 48 months. Individuals must also subscribe to Bizum. This promotion is active until the end of November and can be accessed through both digital channels and in branches.
Expansion
