Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN): Análise de Pestle [Jan-2025 Atualizado]

No mundo dinâmico do setor bancário global, o Banco Santander, S.A. Navega um cenário complexo de desafios e oportunidades que abrangem continentes e desafiam os paradigmas financeiros tradicionais. De tensões geopolíticas a interrupções tecnológicas, essa análise abrangente de pestles revela os intrincados fatores externos que moldam uma das instituições bancárias mais proeminentes da Europa. Prepare -se para mergulhar profundamente em uma exploração multifacetada que revela como o Santander responde estrategicamente a pressões políticas, econômicas, sociológicas, tecnológicas, legais e ambientais em um ecossistema financeiro global cada vez mais interconectado.

Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) - Análise de pilão: Fatores políticos

Tensões geopolíticas complexas que afetam operações bancárias

O Santander opera em 10 mercados -chave com desafios geopolíticos significativos, incluindo Espanha, Brasil, México e Reino Unido. As tensões políticas impactaram diretamente as operações bancárias nessas regiões.

País	Índice de Risco Político (2024)	Impacto bancário potencial
Brasil	5.2/10	Alta incerteza regulatória
México	4.8/10	Restrições operacionais moderadas
Reino Unido	7.5/10	Ajustes regulatórios pós-Brexit

Pressões regulatórias da diretiva bancária da UE

Principais requisitos de conformidade regulatória da UE para Santander em 2024:

• Custos de implementação de Basileia III: € 1,2 bilhão
• Manutenção da taxa de adequação de capital: 13,5%
• Investimentos obrigatórios de segurança bancária digital: € 450 milhões

Instabilidade política nos mercados latino -americanos

O portfólio latino -americano do Santander enfrenta uma volatilidade política significativa, particularmente no Brasil e na Argentina.

País	Índice de Estabilidade Política	Participação de mercado do Santander
Brasil	4.3/10	18.5%
Argentina	3.7/10	12.3%
México	5.1/10	15.7%

Escrutínio do setor financeiro governamental

O aumento do monitoramento regulatório entre os mercados requer investimentos substanciais de conformidade.

• Expansão do departamento de conformidade: aumento de 22% no pessoal
• Investimento anual de tecnologia de conformidade: € 320 milhões
• Orçamento de mitigação de risco regulatório: € 175 milhões

Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) - Análise de pilão: Fatores econômicos

Ambiente de taxa de juros volátil

No quarto trimestre 2023, o Banco Santander enfrentou um ambiente de taxa de juros com as seguintes métricas -chave:

Região	Taxa de juro	Mudança em relação ao trimestre anterior
Zona do euro	4.50%	+0.25%
Brasil	11.25%	-0.50%
Reino Unido	5.25%	+0.25%

Desaceleração econômica nos principais mercados

Desempenho econômico nos principais mercados:

País	Crescimento do PIB 2023	Crescimento projetado do PIB 2024
Espanha	2.4%	1.6%
Brasil	3.1%	1.9%
Reino Unido	0.6%	0.8%

Pressões inflacionárias

Taxas de inflação entre os principais mercados:

País	Taxa de inflação 2023	Inflação central
Espanha	3.1%	2.9%
Brasil	4.6%	4.2%
Reino Unido	4.0%	5.1%

Riscos de recessão econômica

A exposição financeira do Banco Santander à potencial recessão:

Métrica	Valor (milhões de euros)
Portfólio total de empréstimos	1,023,456
Razão de empréstimos não-desempenho	3.2%
Disposições de perda de empréstimos	12,345

Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) - Análise de pilão: Fatores sociais

Mudança de preferências do consumidor para serviços bancários digitais e financeiros móveis

A partir de 2024, o Banco Santander relatou 52,4 milhões de clientes digitais em suas operações globais. Transações bancárias móveis aumentadas por 37.2% comparado ao ano anterior. As plataformas digitais do banco processadas aproximadamente 1,2 bilhão de transações em 2023.

Métrica bancária digital	2024 Estatísticas
Clientes digitais	52,4 milhões
Crescimento da transação móvel	37.2%
Total de transações digitais	1,2 bilhão

População envelhecida nos mercados europeus centrais que afetam o projeto do produto financeiro

Na Espanha, o mercado doméstico do Santander, a população mais de 65 anos alcançou 19.8% em 2024. O banco desenvolveu 37 produtos financeiros especializados direcionando idosos, com investimento total de € 214 milhões nas soluções financeiras de aposentadoria e idade.

Métrica demográfica	2024 dados
População acima de 65 anos na Espanha	19.8%
Produtos financeiros focados em idosos	37 produtos
Investimento em soluções financeiras sênior	€ 214 milhões

Crescente demanda por práticas bancárias sustentáveis ​​e socialmente responsáveis

Santander cometeu € 120 bilhões para finanças sustentáveis ​​até 2025. Em 2024, € 42,7 bilhões já foi alocado para projetos de impacto verde e social. 68% de investidores institucionais preferiram os produtos financeiros com classificação ESG da Santander.

Métrica de sustentabilidade	2024 Estatísticas
Compromisso financeiro sustentável total	€ 120 bilhões
Alocação de projeto verde/social atual	€ 42,7 bilhões
Preferência institucional do investidor ESG	68%

Aumentando as expectativas do cliente para experiências financeiras personalizadas

Santander implementado Personalização orientada a IA em suas plataformas, resultando em 43% Melhoria na satisfação do cliente. 276 milhões de euros foi investido em soluções personalizadas de tecnologia financeira. 64% de clientes usavam recomendações financeiras personalizadas.

Métrica de personalização	2024 dados
Melhoria da satisfação do cliente	43%
Investimento em tecnologia de personalização	276 milhões de euros
Clientes usando recomendações personalizadas	64%

Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) - Análise de pilão: Fatores tecnológicos

Investimentos significativos em transformação digital e soluções bancárias orientadas pela IA

O Banco Santander investiu 4,3 bilhões de euros em transformação digital em 2023. O banco implantou 4.500 soluções de IA em suas operações globais, com foco no atendimento ao cliente e na eficiência operacional.

Categoria de investimento digital	Valor do investimento (€)	Porcentagem do orçamento de tecnologia total
Tecnologias de IA	1,2 bilhão	28%
Plataformas bancárias digitais	1,5 bilhão	35%
Infraestrutura de segurança cibernética	850 milhões	20%
Computação em nuvem	750 milhões	17%

Desafios de segurança cibernética na proteção de dados financeiros do cliente e infraestrutura digital

O Santander detectou e impediu 15.230 incidentes cibernéticos em 2023, com um investimento de € 850 milhões em tecnologias de segurança cibernética. O banco implementou sistemas avançados de detecção de ameaças com 99,7% de eficácia.

Métrica de segurança cibernética	2023 desempenho
Incidentes cibernéticos totais	15,230
Incidentes impedidos	15,200
Precisão da detecção de ameaças	99.7%
Taxa de prevenção de violação de dados	100%

Implementação de tecnologias de blockchain e aprendizado de máquina em serviços financeiros

O Santander lançou 37 serviços financeiros baseados em blockchain em 2023, com algoritmos de aprendizado de máquina processando mais de 2,3 milhões de transações de clientes diariamente.

Tecnologia	Escala de implantação	Processamento de transações
Serviços Blockchain	37 plataformas ativas	540.000 transações/semana
Aplicações de aprendizado de máquina	126 casos de uso distintos	2,3 milhões de transações/dia

Expandindo plataformas bancárias digitais para competir com os desafiantes da FinTech

A plataforma bancária digital do Santander, One Pay FX, processou 12,4 bilhões de euros em transações transfronteiriças em 2023, com 3,7 milhões de usuários de banco digital ativo em seus mercados globais.

Métrica bancária digital	2023 desempenho
Usuários de bancos digitais ativos	3,7 milhões
Volume de transação transfronteiriça	€ 12,4 bilhões
Downloads de aplicativos bancários móveis	1,2 milhão

Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) - Análise de pilão: Fatores legais

Requisitos rigorosos de conformidade regulatória em várias jurisdições internacionais

O Banco Santander opera em 10 mercados primários com ambientes regulatórios distintos, exigindo estratégias abrangentes de conformidade legal.

País	Órgãos regulatórios	Custo de conformidade (2023)
Espanha	Banco da Espanha	€ 187,3 milhões
Reino Unido	Autoridade de conduta financeira	£ 142,6 milhões
Brasil	Banco Central do Brasil	R $ 423,7 milhões
Estados Unidos	Federal Reserve	US $ 215,4 milhões

Desafios legais contínuos relacionados a práticas financeiras e proteção ao consumidor

Estatísticas de procedimentos legais para Santander (2023):

• Casos legais ativos totais: 247
• Disposições jurídicas totais estimadas: € 1,2 bilhão
• Reivindicações de proteção ao consumidor: 89 casos
• Casos de investigação regulatória: 53 casos

Relatórios aumentados e obrigações de transparência de reguladores financeiros

Requisito de relatório	Freqüência	Custo de conformidade
Relatórios de Basileia III	Trimestral	€ 76,5 milhões
Relatórios de lavagem de dinheiro	Mensal	€ 43,2 milhões
Divulgações de gerenciamento de riscos	Semestral	€ 32,7 milhões

Estruturas legais transfronteiriças complexas que afetam operações bancárias internacionais

Métricas de conformidade regulatória transfronteiriça:

• Jurisdições transfronteiriças totais: 14
• Estruturas regulatórias únicas gerenciadas: 22
• Despesas anuais de conformidade jurídica transfronteiriça: € 412,6 milhões
• Pessoal Legal e de conformidade dedicado: 1.347 profissionais

Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) - Análise de Pestle: Fatores Ambientais

Compromisso com estratégias de finanças sustentáveis ​​e de investimento verde

O Banco Santander cometeu 120 bilhões de euros em financiamento e investimentos sustentáveis ​​até 2025. O portfólio de financiamento verde do banco atingiu 43,8 bilhões de euros em 2023, representando um aumento de 32% em relação ao ano anterior.

Métrica financeira sustentável	2023 valor	Ano -alvo
Compromisso total de financiamento sustentável	€ 120 bilhões	2025
Portfólio de financiamento verde	€ 43,8 bilhões	2023
Crescimento ano a ano	32%	2022-2023

Reduzindo a pegada de carbono em operações bancárias e portfólios de investimento

O Santander pretende reduzir as emissões operacionais de carbono em 70% até 2025, com emissões atuais a 298.000 toneladas de CO2 equivalentes em 2023.

Métrica de emissão de carbono	2023 valor	Alvo	Ano -alvo
Emissões de carbono atuais	298.000 toneladas métricas	Redução de 70%	2025

Apoiar projetos de energia renovável por meio de produtos financeiros especializados

O Santander forneceu 12,5 bilhões de euros em financiamento de projetos de energia renovável em 2023, com alocações específicas nos setores solar, eólica e hidrelétrica.

Setor de energia renovável	Valor de financiamento (bilhão de €)
Energia solar	5.7
Energia eólica	4.3
Hidrelétrico	2.5
Financiamento total de energia renovável	12.5

Implementando critérios ambientais, sociais e de governança (ESG) em decisões de investimento

Em 2023, 78% do portfólio de investimentos da Santander Incorporated Critérios de ESG, com 215 bilhões de euros em ativos escrevidos pela ESG.

Esg Métrica de Investimento	2023 valor
Portfólio com critérios de ESG	78%
Ativos escrevidos por ESG	€ 215 bilhões

Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) - PESTLE Analysis: Social factors

Digital Adoption: 52.4 million digital customers, driving a shift from branch services.

The core social shift for Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) is the rapid move to digital banking, which fundamentally changes how customers interact with the bank. The bank's total customer base is substantial, reaching approximately 178 million as of the first nine months of 2025 (9M'25). The strategy is clear: become a digital bank with branches, not the other way around. This means the bank's long-term profitability hinges on strengthening those digital relationships, not just maintaining physical ones. Honestly, the branch is now a service center, not the primary touchpoint.

This digital focus is paying off in usage. The volume of transactions per active customer rose by a solid 6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2025), showing real engagement with the digital platforms. Openbank, the group's digital-only unit, is a key growth engine. In the US, a critical market, Openbank is on track to become a full-service digital bank by the end of 2025, following a successful launch that saw it gain over 100,000 customers in its first six months.

• Total customers: approx. 178 million (9M'25).
• Transaction volume per customer: up 6% (Q1 2025).
• US digital unit Openbank: on track for full-service by late 2025.

Aging populations in Europe, like Spain where over 19.8% of the population is over 65.

While the digital push is vital for future growth, the demographic reality in key European markets, especially the bank's home country, Spain, presents a unique social challenge. The population aged 65 and over in Spain stood at approximately 20.40% in late 2024, and this figure is only set to grow, with long-term forecasts predicting it will exceed 30% by 2055. This aging cohort often prefers, or requires, traditional in-branch service and can struggle with the rapid pace of digitalization. That's a significant portion of the customer base you simply can't ignore.

To mitigate the risk of financial exclusion (when people can't access essential financial services), Santander has taken concrete actions. They have extended branch opening hours and, importantly, created a dedicated 'senior ambassador' role in each branch. This is a smart, empathetic move that provides personalized assistance to the elderly, helping them with complex banking tasks and digital procedures without forcing a complete digital adoption. What this estimate hides is the true cost of maintaining a physical network for a shrinking, but high-value, segment.

Region/Demographic	Metric	Value (2024/2025)
Spain	Population Aged 65+	approx. 20.4%
Spain	Projected Population Aged 65+	30.5% by 2055
Santander Action	Support for Elderly	Dedicated 'senior ambassador' role in branches

Strong consumer demand for sustainable and socially responsible banking products.

Consumer and investor appetite for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria is defintely not a trend anymore; it's a mandate. Customers, particularly younger generations, are demanding that their bank acts as a responsible corporate citizen. Santander has responded by integrating sustainability deeply into its product offering and strategy, which is why the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) ranked it as the most sustainable bank in the world.

The bank has already surpassed its near-term green financing goals. They achieved their target of mobilising €120 billion in green financing between 2019 and 2025 a full 18 months ahead of schedule. Here's the quick math: they hit the 2025 target in mid-2023. So, they've already raised the bar, setting a new, ambitious goal to mobilize €220 billion in green financing by 2030. This commitment translates directly into consumer-facing products, including discounted sustainable loans for individuals and a range of ESG-focused investment funds.

Focus on financial inclusion and community support through Education, Employability, and Entrepreneurship.

Social license to operate is earned through action, and Santander focuses its community support on three pillars: Education, Employability, and Entrepreneurship. This is a crucial part of their Responsible Banking strategy. They set an original target to financially empower 10 million people by 2025, but they blew past that, empowering 11.8 million people since 2019. The new, raised goal is to financially empower 15 million people by 2025.

The financial commitment to these social pillars is substantial. In 2024, the bank deployed €166 million in community support, directly benefiting five million people across its markets. A significant portion, €104 million of that total, was invested specifically in the three core areas: education, employability, and entrepreneurship. Through the Santander X initiative, they also provided non-financial support to 52,570 businesses and entrepreneurial projects in 2024 alone. This isn't just charity; it builds future customers and stronger local economies.

• New Financial Inclusion Target: 15 million people by 2025.
• Total Community Investment (2024): €166 million.
• Investment in Education, Employability, Entrepreneurship (2024): €104 million.
• Businesses supported via Santander X (2024): 52,570.

Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) - PESTLE Analysis: Technological factors

You're looking at a bank that's making a massive, expensive bet on being a true digital-native company, and that's both the biggest opportunity and the biggest near-term risk. Banco Santander, S.A. is now one of the first major established banks to move its core systems to the cloud, but that move creates a larger attack surface for sophisticated cyber threats.

The core of the technology strategy is the Gravity platform, a proprietary cloud-based system designed to simplify the bank's sprawling global architecture. This shift is already delivering tangible efficiency gains and is setting the stage for a new level of customer experience and product agility. Here's the quick math: technology is moving from a cost center to a core competitive advantage, but it demands a constant, high-level investment in defense.

Cloud Migration: Completed migration of core infrastructure in Spain to its Gravity platform in June 2025

The migration of the entire core banking system in Spain to the Gravity platform was completed in June 2025, a decisive step. This makes Santander the first major established bank in the Western world to operate its core system 100% in the cloud, which is a big deal for speed and security. Moving the core banking system-where primary transactions like transfers and loans are processed-from legacy mainframes to a modern, cloud-native architecture shortens the time to launch new functionalities from weeks to mere hours.

This deployment is not stopping in Spain. The bank is actively rolling out Gravity in other major markets, including Brazil and Mexico. Once these key rollouts are complete, the Group expects to have migrated around 80% of its core technology infrastructure to cloud-based systems globally. When fully operational across the Group, the Gravity platform is projected to process over one trillion technical operations annually.

Operational Efficiency: Project Gravity helped reduce the efficiency ratio to 35.9% in Q3 2025 in its Chilean unit

The financial impact of this technological transformation is most clearly visible in operational efficiency (the cost-to-income ratio). In the Chilean unit, where Gravity is already deployed, the efficiency ratio reached a sector-leading 35.9% as of September 30, 2025 (Q3 2025). This is a significant improvement from the 40.0% recorded in the same period last year, showing that the platform is defintely reducing structural costs. For the overall Group, the efficiency ratio stood at 39.2% in Q3 2025, reflecting the continued benefits of the digital transformation across its global businesses.

The shift to a simpler, more integrated model is also driving productivity across the workforce. For example, over 6,000 of the bank's developers are now using AI tools, which has boosted their productivity by up to 30% on certain tasks.

AI Deployment: Uses advanced AI solutions globally for customer service and fraud detection

Santander is rapidly evolving into what it calls an AI-native bank, moving beyond traditional machine learning to deploy generative AI (GenAI) at scale. The bank has rolled out OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise to nearly 15,000 employees across Europe and the Americas and plans to double this coverage to 30,000 staff by the end of 2025. This is one of the most extensive GenAI deployments in global banking.

The financial returns from these AI initiatives are already clear:

• AI initiatives generated over €200 million in cost savings in 2024.
• AI tools now assist in more than 40% of contact-center interactions.
• Speech analytics in Spain processes 10 million calls annually, freeing up over 100,000 staff hours.

This table shows the measurable impact of the AI and digital transformation efforts as of Q3 2025:

Metric	Value (Q3 2025 / YTD 2025)	Context / Impact
Santander Chile Efficiency Ratio	35.9%	Best in Chilean industry; driven by digital transformation.
Group Efficiency Ratio	39.2%	Reflects overall cost management gains from transformation.
AI-Assisted Contact Centre Interactions	Over 40%	Shows scale of AI in customer service.
Planned ChatGPT Enterprise Users	30,000 (by end of 2025)	Represents 15% of the total workforce using GenAI.
Developer Productivity Gain (via AI)	Up to 30%	Accelerates time-to-market for new digital products.

Increased vulnerability to sophisticated cyberattacks and data breaches due to a growing digital footprint

The move to the cloud and the expansion of digital services, while boosting efficiency, inherently increases the bank's attack surface. This is the trade-off. A major data breach was announced in May 2024, where an unauthorized actor accessed a database hosted by a third-party provider, affecting customers and employees in Spain, Chile, and Uruguay. The bank's reliance on third-party vendors for parts of its infrastructure introduces a critical point of failure that is harder to control.

More recently, in November 2025, there were reports of an alleged sale of Banco Santander customer data on a cybercrime forum. The data purportedly included sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and financial details like IBANs, which significantly raises the risk of sophisticated financial fraud and identity theft for affected individuals. The bank has to constantly focus on risks associated with technology and cyberrisk, as noted in its Q3 2025 financial report. The bank is proactively engaging in global efforts like the Quantum Safe Financial Forum (QSSF) to prepare for future threats like post-quantum cryptography, but the immediate threat is from current, sophisticated social engineering and third-party vendor attacks.

Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) - PESTLE Analysis: Legal factors

You need to understand that for a global bank like Banco Santander, the legal landscape isn't just a cost center; it's a fundamental risk to the business model, especially with new regulations hitting the books in the 2025 fiscal year. We're talking about navigating a fragmented, multi-jurisdictional maze where a misstep in one country can trigger a domino effect across the Group. The core takeaway is that compliance spending is now a permanent, non-negotiable capital expenditure, and the regulatory environment is actively shifting to accommodate, or in some cases, prohibit, new digital asset classes.

Must navigate complex, multi-jurisdictional compliance for AML (Anti-Money Laundering) and KYC (Know Your Customer)

Operating across 10 core markets in Europe and the Americas means Banco Santander faces a constant battle to standardize its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance. This is an enormous operational cost, and even with robust internal controls, regulatory scrutiny is intense. For example, in a September 2025 action, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) fined Banco Santander, S.A. and its subsidiary Santander US Capital Markets LLC a total of $500,000. Here's the quick math: that fine wasn't for market manipulation, but for simple record-keeping failures related to employees using unapproved communication methods like personal text messages for business. This shows how granular and unforgiving the supervisory focus is right now. You simply cannot afford to have compliance be a secondary thought.

Strict data governance requirements imposed by the EU's GDPR and similar global laws

Data governance, especially around the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is a major, ongoing legal risk. As a Spanish-headquartered bank, the GDPR is the baseline for all European operations, but similar privacy laws are emerging in other key markets like Brazil and the US. While Banco Santander has a corporate data protection policy and a designated Data Protection Officer, even minor errors lead to public penalties. To be fair, the fines can be small for a bank of this size, but the reputational damage is the real risk. In 2024, the Spanish Data Protection Agency fined the bank €42,000 for a GDPR violation involving the mistaken sharing of a mortgage-backed loan amortization schedule with a third party. This is defintely a risk of human error that technology needs to solve.

Regulatory Cost: Basel III implementation costs were estimated at €1.2 billion

The finalization of the Basel III framework, often called Basel IV, is the single largest regulatory capital event of 2025. The European Union's Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR3) and Capital Requirements Directive (CRD6) came into force on January 1, 2025, fundamentally changing how banks calculate risk-weighted assets (RWAs) and capital floors. The initial push for the massive operational overhaul required to meet these new standards was tied to a strategic plan to realize €1.2 billion in annual cost cuts through digitalization and simplification, which is a direct response to the pressure of higher regulatory capital and operational costs. The new rules translate to hard capital requirements you must meet.

Here's a look at the key 2025 capital requirements set by the European Central Bank (ECB) following the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP):

Capital Requirement Metric	Requirement Effective Jan 1, 2025	Change from Jan 1, 2024
Minimum CET1 Requirement	9.67%	+7 basis points
Total Capital Requirement	13.93%	+7 basis points
Pillar 2 Requirement (P2R)	1.74%	Maintained

US regulators are pushing back on certain Basel risk weights to foster digital asset competition

The global regulatory landscape for digital assets is fragmenting, which creates both risk and opportunity for a multinational bank. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) proposed a punitive 1,250% risk weight for unbacked crypto assets on permissionless-blockchains, which would make bank participation in the digital asset market economically impractical. However, US regulators are actively pushing back on this. The US Federal Reserve has publicly stated that it will not implement these specific Basel risk weights, aiming instead to foster digital asset competition and innovation among regulated US financial institutions. This is a critical divergence, allowing Banco Santander's US operations, whose Intermediate Holding Company (SHUSA) is designated as a Category IV financial institution (the lowest risk non-systemic tier), to pursue digital asset strategies with a less stringent capital burden than its European parent entity must contend with.

The current regulatory posture creates a unique competitive dynamic:

• US regulators reject the 1,250% Basel risk weight.
• Global stablecoin market is approaching $300 billion.
• Banco Santander must manage two distinct digital asset regulatory regimes.

Finance: Draft a memo by end-of-week comparing the capital impact of a 1% Bitcoin holding under the 1,250% Basel weight versus US-specific rules.

Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) - PESTLE Analysis: Environmental factors

Net-Zero Commitment: Target of becoming a zero-carbon group by 2050

You need to know that Banco Santander, S.A. is defintely pushing hard on its long-term climate goals, but the real work is in the financed emissions (Scope 3), not just their own operations. The bank's ambition is to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across the entire group by 2050, aligning with the Paris Agreement goals. This commitment covers their own operations, which are already carbon neutral, and more importantly, all client emissions that result from their lending, advisory, or investment services.

Here's the quick math: achieving net-zero by 2050 means a massive, ongoing portfolio shift over the next 25 years. The bank's 2025 focus is on setting sector-specific decarbonization targets, like those already disclosed for the power generation, oil & gas, steel, and automotive sectors.

What this estimate hides: The bank is a founding member of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), but the actual decarbonization trajectory is complex, requiring engagement with a diverse, global client base that is at different stages of the energy transition.

Green Finance Target: Achieved the €120 billion goal for raising or facilitating green finance early

The bank hit its near-term green finance target well ahead of schedule, which is a significant positive signal for their execution capability. The original goal was to raise or facilitate €120 billion in green finance between 2019 and the end of 2025. They achieved this milestone 18 months early.

As of December 2024, the total amount raised and mobilized globally in green finance by the Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) division alone reached €139.4 billion. This early success led to an immediate increase in ambition, so the new benchmark is now set much higher.

The new, forward-looking target is to raise or facilitate €220 billion in green finance by 2030. This capital is crucial for financing the expansion of renewable energy capacity, which the International Energy Agency estimates needs to triple globally to meet Paris objectives.

Metric	Target/Achievement (2025 Fiscal Year Data)	New Target
Original Green Finance Goal (2019-2025)	Achieved €120 billion (18 months early)	N/A
Total Green Finance Mobilized (2019-Dec 2024)	€139.4 billion	N/A
New Green Finance Target	N/A	€220 billion by 2030

Decarbonization: Target to phase out exposure by 2030 to power generation clients with over 10% revenue from coal

The bank's initial decarbonization targets were clear: by 2030, they would stop providing financial services to power generation clients deriving more than 10% of their revenues from thermal coal. They also committed to eliminating all exposure to thermal coal mining globally by the same date.

Still, you need to be aware of a critical policy update from July 2025. The bank amended its Environmental and Social Risk Management Policy, introducing a significant caveat.

• Original 2030 goal was a hard cut-off for clients with over 10% coal revenue.
• The July 2025 policy change now allows Banco Santander to provide sustainable finance and products to these same clients, even after 2030.
• They can also now provide general purpose finance for new clients with up to 25% of revenues from thermal coal power generation without requiring a robust plan to reduce that exposure to 10% or below by 2030.

This shift is a near-term risk for their ESG credibility (environmental, social, and governance), as it creates a loophole for continued engagement with high-carbon clients under the banner of 'transition finance.' It makes the 2030 phase-out target less absolute.

All debit, credit, and pre-paid cards in its four core European markets will be made from sustainable materials by the end of 2025.

This is a concrete, operational environmental goal that directly impacts their physical footprint. By the end of 2025, all debit, credit, and pre-paid cards issued in their four core European markets will be manufactured from sustainable materials, such as recycled PVC or corn-based plastic substitutes (PLA).

The four core European markets driving this change are:

• Spain
• Portugal
• Poland
• The UK

The bank has over 30 million payment cards in the Europe region. Completing this rollout is expected to save more than 1,000 tonnes of CO2 every year, which is roughly equivalent to the annual energy consumption of nearly 1,000 households. Plus, it will reduce plastic usage by 60 tons annually.

This is a small but tangible win for reducing their operational carbon footprint.