Spanish banking group Santander has confirmed that the company is in process to establish a standalone digital bank in the UK.
The move, aimed at improving its online presence, will also enable the lender to attract new customers while successfully steering challenges presented by robo-advisers and fintech platforms such as Monzo.
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By GlobalDataAdditionally, the Spanish lender is bringing its flagship Openbank product to the UK, which already serves nearly 1.3 million users in Spain. Openbank is the lender’s digital service in Spain.
The standalone digital bank is expected to set up during the next few months. It will focus on smaller companies.
The digital entity will provide a number of services beyond traditional lending, such as providing advice on pensions and payrolls.
A spokesperson from Santander said: “We are working on a project to build an open digital financial services platform for SMEs. We look forward to sharing more about the platform soon.”
It is believed that Santander is developing four innovation hubs..
The first two platforms include Super Digital – a digital account for the unbanked population in Latin America; and Open Bank – a digital challenger bank initially serving the Spanish market acting as a blueprint for a new IT architecture.
Remaining two platforms will include One Pay FX – a blockchain-based international money transfer service; and an open digital financial services platform for SMEs.
