Banco Santander Santiago
Last year was a period of intense activity for Banco Santander Santiago, with the focus on spearheading bank penetration to all levels of the population.
The bank outperformed the Chilean financial system in 2005, when net income reached a record level of $466m, an increase of 20.6% compared with the 16.9% average for the banking system. As a result, Banco Santander Santiago obtained the highest net interest margin of the sector. The group grew its market share in consumer loans to 25.6%, with similar growth figures for mortgages and leasing.
Many Chilean banks have targeted the retail sector but none has the same level of commitment or can demonstrate the same results as Banco Santander Santiago. The group led the opening of branches in 2005, with 37 new offices, an increase of 12%, while the number of ATMs rose 20% to 232.
“In 2005, the bank clearly outperformed the Chilean financial system,” says chairman Mauricio Larráin. “Among the most important factors behind our recent success, I would highlight our ability to anticipate the rest of the market in some key strategic decisions. We foresaw a couple of years ago that Chile had the right combination of expected growth and stability, and took several actions to capitalise on this opportunity for increasing bank penetration levels. We overhauled our systems to improve efficiency and client relationship management. We also expanded our distribution network aggressively. Another key aspect has been our strong management team that has executed this strategy.”
