Banco Santander (BSAC) Makes $800M Investment Plan by 2026

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Banco Santander-Chile BSAC announced an investment plan worth $800 million in Chile by 2026. This amount would be dedicated to the company’s transformational process aimed at becoming a digital bank. Such activities involve the innovation of Work/Café and the construction of Campus Santander.

Notably, $350 million will be invested by BSAC in the new corporate building, while $450 million will be allocated to technology and operations initiatives as well as branch renewals.

Román Blanco, the chief executive officer, stated, “This is a great step, because it allows us to continue advancing in our Chile First strategy, with the sole objective of putting Chile and its people first. This plan demonstrates the confidence that the Group has and the long-term commitment that we have acquired to become the best bank for Chile”.

As of Sep 30, 2023, it recorded a Net Promoter Score (NPS) (a metric measuring the loyalty of customers to a company) of 58 points. As per Retently, “If your NPS is higher than 30, that would indicate that your company is doing great and has far more happy customers than unhappy ones”.

Román further added, “All the actions we have carried out are widely recognized and have allowed us to become, for the fourth consecutive year, the bank with the highest customer satisfaction in the financial market”.

Banco Santander has showcased a decent digital transformation journey along with consistent growth in its digital client base. These have been fortified by initiatives like Santander Light and Mas Lucas.

Santander Light account has attracted over one million clients and offers current account facilities along with access to additional products through its digital platforms.

Mas Lucas was introduced in March 2023. It currently accounts for over 30% of the company’s new account openings per month. Mas Lucas’ onboarding process is entirely digital, comprising facial recognition technology and no password requirements. The product involves no maintenance or transaction fees and offers customers a variable rate of interest on the money kept.

Being aware of how significant digitalization and face-to-face interactions with executives are, BSAC has been focusing on strengthening its Work/café. This initiative has redefined the concept of a banking branch by enhancing its service experience in branches. Thus, they have become a benchmark for comfort, agility and security.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) company have gained 5% on the NYSE compared with its industry’s 7.9% growth over the past six months.

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Finance Stocks Worth Considering

A couple of better-ranked stocks from the finance space are Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. MUFG and Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. ITUB. MUFG and ITUB currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MUFG’s fiscal 2023 earnings has been revised 5.4% upward over the past 60 days. The stock has gained 31.2% over the past six months.

The consensus estimate for ITUB’s 2023 earnings has remained unchanged over the past 60 days. The company’s share price has increased 15.4% over the past six months.

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