Banco Santander SA will keep prioritizing the US and Latin America, despite government pledges to invest hundreds of billions of euros across Europe that could spur economic growth, Chairman Ana Botin said.
“We continue to have a big business in Europe, we see a lot of potential over the next few years in Europe,” Botin said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “But our focus will continue to be more on the Americas.”
Spain’s largest bank has been hiring in the US and rolling out a new digital bank in the country as well as in Mexico as it seeks to expand across the region. The performance of operations in some other countries has been less strong, with the UK emerging as one laggard, Bloomberg News has reported.
Still, governments across the European Union are now stepping up public spending, especially on defense. That’s “good for growth” in the region, Botin said in the interview.
The recent US launch of Santander’s digital bank, called Openbank, “has exceeded our expectation,” Botin said. The offering now has close to 100,000 customers, she said, adding that the Spanish lender plans to move US retail clients from their current platform to the Openbank one.