An additional ARS 20 million is being added to the ARS 60 million already announced last week and will be put to use in different areas, including research into pharmaceuticals, the development of therapies and support for the most vulnerable sectors. 
 

Buenos Aires, 16 April 2020.- Santander Argentina will donate ARS 20 million to universities to strengthen the healthcare system through research into pharmaceuticals, the development of therapies and care protocols for patients. This money will also go toward boosting the university system's IT capacity and providing support for students and teaching staff. 

This ARS 20 million is being added to the ARS 60 million that Santander Argentina announced last week, which will be donated to organisations such as Caritas, COAS, the Red Cross and the Seamos Uno initiative to help buy medical supplies and food and hygiene kits for the most vulnerable sectors. In total, Santander is donating ARS 80 million to help mitigate the effect of the coronavirus (covid-19) outbreak in Argentina. 

This fresh donation comes from the redirecting of 30% of patronage funds, in collaboration with the universities that have agreements in place with the bank, and the optimisation of Latin American mobility programmes. It will also be used to carry out student volunteer actions—in support of the most vulnerable groups—and provide scholarships for further education. 

Silvia Tenazinha, the head of Retail and Commercial Banking, said, "Santander's purpose is to help families and businesses. This contribution ratifies our commitment—and that of the universities we work with—to finding solutions to help ease the impact of this pandemic in Argentina." 

Santander is also continuing with the campaign designed to encourage its customers to donate to different institutions to which it has allocated ARS 10 million. Santander will match every donation made by its customers, doubling the end contribution to each initiative. For more details visit www.santander.com.ar. 

Santander Group, which has its headquarters in Madrid, announced that it has mobilised almost EUR 20 million of the contribution it makes to education through Santander Universities to support collaborative projects being run by the universities and CSIC to tackle the medical and educational challenges arising from the covid-19 crisis. 

About Santander Argentina 
Santander Argentina is the largest private bank in Argentina’s financial system in terms of both savings (deposits plus common funds) and lending volume. The entity has 430 traditional branches, 8 social integration branches, 6 digital branches, 3 Work Cafés, more than 3.7 million customers (including 2.2 million digital customers, more than 320,000 MSMEs and small- and medium-sized enterprises and 1,300 corporate companies), more than 8,300 employees and operates in 22 provinces and in Buenos Aires. Santander Argentina is developing an extensive responsible banking programme that focuses on higher education; through Santander Universities, it has over 86 collaboration agreements in place with public and private Argentinian universities.