Transforming the global landscape through social endeavors
Santander's Financial Inclusion Strategy Empowering Millions
Santander, a global bank, is making significant strides in financial inclusion and empowerment. The bank's strategy leverages advanced digital technology, mobile banking, and AI-driven risk evaluation to serve millions of previously unbanked or underprivileged individuals worldwide.
One of Santander's key initiatives is Prospera, a microcredit program for people who lack access to the formal financial system. Prospera has granted microloans to over 700,000 entrepreneurs, totaling nearly USD 2 billion. Notably, 70% of these microloans support women small business owners.
Prospera has been successful in countries like Santander Colombia, where it has created jobs and helped small business owners. The program has expanded to Argentina in 2015 and more recently to Uruguay in 2019.
Another initiative, Tuiio, provides financial education to help people make use of banking services. Tuiio operates in Mexico at 85 branches and has 72,000 customers.
Santander's commitment to financial inclusion is not limited to these initiatives. The bank has three lines of action to promote financial inclusion: basic financial services, financing for SMEs and entrepreneurs, and financial education programs. The bank aims to empower 10 million people financially by 2025.
In addition to Prospera and Tuiio, Santander's strategy includes Superdigital, a financial inclusion platform. Superdigital offers basic financial services to individuals and is available in Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Mexico.
Fortune Magazine recognised Santander Brasil's efforts in 2018 and 2019, ranking it on its list of companies that are doing the most to change the world. Since 2019, these initiatives have empowered 4 million people.
The bank's emphasis on digital transformation and strategic simplification underpins its ability to drive value through inclusive banking services globally. Santander's financial inclusion and empowerment report for 2019 is 3.5 MB in size, detailing the bank's ongoing efforts to expand digital banking reach, foster fintech collaborations, deploy AI to improve lending to underprivileged segments, and combine financial education with microfinance projects to support entrepreneur empowerment and inclusion.
In summary, Santander's financial inclusion strategy is built on expanding digital banking reach, fostering fintech collaborations, deploying AI to improve lending to underprivileged segments, and combining financial education with microfinance projects to support entrepreneur empowerment and inclusion. Prospera, Tuiio, and Superdigital are part of Santander's strategy to cover people's and SMEs' needs, aiming to help many more people in the future.
- Santander's financial inclusion strategy is not restricted to specific programs like Prospera and Tuiio; instead, it encompasses three main lines of action: basic financial services, financing for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs, and financial education programs, all with the aim of empowering 10 million people financially by 2025.
- Beyond Prospera, which focuses on microcredit, and Tuiio, which offers financial education, Santander's financial inclusion strategy includes Superdigital, a platform offering basic financial services available in multiple countries.
- Integral to Santander's financial inclusion and empowerment efforts is the combination of financial education and microfinance projects to support the empowerment and inclusion of entrepreneurs, as well as the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve lending to underprivileged segments.
