Banco Santander achieved an underlying profit of €3,658 million in the first nine months of 2020, down 33%, due to an increase in loan-loss provisions attributable to the covid-19 pandemic. Although the pandemic has had a significant impact on customer activity, the bank noted improvement in the third quarter.

Banco Santander’s group executive chairman, Ana Botín, announced plans today to create a global native digital consumer bank with the combination of Openbank and Santander Consumer Finance. This is one of Santander’s the three initiatives to become the best open financial services platform.