About Santander | Our history (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of Santander Bank? ›

History. Santander Bank, N.A., was founded on October 8, 1902 as Sovereign Bank, a savings and loan in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. The company's earliest customers were largely textile workers. Sovereign expanded rapidly during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, acquiring numerous other banks.

Throughout the centuries, Santander has been named the “Liverpool of Spain”, as its port became a crossroads of products imported from the colonies and traded with the New World. In 1983, Santander was officially appointed the capital of Cantabria, which took the form of an Autonomous Region that same year.

We provide financial products and services

Mortgages, consumer auto finance, unsecured loans, credit cards, banking and savings accounts, investment and insurance products for individuals and growth-focused support and services for companies.

Our commitment is to be a fair, transparent, and responsible bank. At the heart of this is good customer outcomes and fair value. We deal with any form of fraud against our customers or other economic crime as a priority.

Santander UK plc (UK: /ˌsæntənˈdɛər, -tæn-/, US: /ˌsɑːntɑːnˈdɛər/) is a British bank, wholly owned by the Spanish Santander Group. Santander UK plc manages its affairs autonomously, with its own local management team, responsible solely for its performance.

What is Santander Most Famous For? The best things to do in Santander include visiting its beaches, parks, and iconic royal palace.

The bottom line: Santander Bank could be a good fit if you want a brick-and-mortar bank with low monthly fees. For more competitive savings rates, though, consider one of the best high-yield savings accounts with an online bank.

In October 2013, Sovereign's name was changed to Santander. In 2011 we included the Scandinavian SEB group's retail and commercial banking business in Germany, through Santander Consumer AG. In addition, we acquired a Polish bank, Bank Zachodni WBK.

Well-balanced diversification between businesses and markets with a solid and simple balance sheet that gives us recurrent net operating income with low volatility and more predictable results.

What are the core values of Santander? ›

Our global culture, "The Santander Way", encompasses our purpose “to help people and businesses prosper”, our aim, “to be the best open financial services platform, acting responsibly and earning the trust of our people, customers, shareholders and communities”, our “Simple, Personal and Fair” values, our risk culture ...

Who is protected? The FSCS protects customers including individuals, companies and small local authorities for up to £85,000 across accounts with us. This amount is for each customer, meaning two individual customers with a joint account have protection of £170,000.

Did you know that Santander has been our brand name since our very beginnings in 1857? It's not only the name of the city in which our bank was first chartered, but also the birthplace of our founders, the Botín family.

Our customers are people who trust us with their money, who want Simple, Personal and Fair service, and who expect to have the best experience on all our channels.

In October 2013, Sovereign's name was changed to Santander. In 2011 we included the Scandinavian SEB group's retail and commercial banking business in Germany, through Santander Consumer AG. In addition, we acquired a Polish bank, Bank Zachodni WBK.

Our business model

We strive to make all we do Simple, Personal and Fair. Our strategy aims to create value for all our stakeholders. Our talented and engaged team generates customer loyalty, leading to strong financial results for our shareholders, so we deliver support for our communities, which motivates our team.

The bottom line: Santander Bank could be a good fit if you want a brick-and-mortar bank with low monthly fees. For more competitive savings rates, though, consider one of the best high-yield savings accounts with an online bank. Annual Percentage Yield (APY) Minimum deposit.