MADRID, Spain–Banking giant Santander said it is partnering with OpenAI as it seeks to establish itself as an “AI-native” bank.
According to the bank, the initiative is part to its vision of modernizing operations and leading the transition toward what Retail Banker International called a more “personalized and agile” banking experience.
“By integrating AI with its existing ‘digital bank with branches’ model, Santander seeks to differentiate itself in the competitive banking landscape,” the publication stated. “Historically, Santander has employed AI in areas such as fraud detection and customer service, which now serve as the foundation for its new strategy.”
The bank plans to scale generative and agentic AI not just to optimize existing processes but to redefine the banking experience entirely, Retail Banker International reported.
Three Key Pillars
“This strategy is built on three key pillars, including embedding AI across all business functions, placing AI at the heart of global platforms, and leveraging an AI ecosystem for growth through partnerships with OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon, and a startup community,” the report stated.
According to RBI, the results are already evident, with AI projects generating more than €200 million in savings in 2024 alone, Santander is reporting.
Assistance With 40% of Interactions
The bank said AI copilots assist in more than 40% of contact center interactions, while speech analytics processes around 10-million voice calls annually in Spain.
In just two months, Santander reported it implemented ChatGPT Enterprise for nearly 15,000 employees across Europe and the Americas, with plans to expand to 30,000 users by year-end, encompassing about 15% of its workforce.
“AI tools are designed to assist developers, marketers, bankers, and service agents in tackling complex tasks more efficiently,” Retail Banker International stated. “Initial applications include investment copilots offering real-time strategy suggestions and hyper-personalized customer journeys.”
‘Vendor Neutral’
The report explained that Santander’s architecture is modular and vendor-neutral, allowing seamless integration with OpenAI and other large language models. More than 6,000 developers are currently utilizing AI tools, resulting in productivity increases of 20–30% for certain tasks, the report added.
