Key figures will be visible on billboards across the country:  

21.4 million euros invested in Portuguese society, with 304,000 people supported through free training, higher education scholarships and financial literacy.

More than 20,000 young people have bought their own home through the support of Santander in the last 12 months.

Around 980 million euros have been made available in agreed financing, focusing on energy efficiency, digitalisation and SME growth capital.

Lisbon, 27 August 2025.
Transforming Lives. Start Now. This is the name of the new campaign that Santander has just launched, including creative articles to mark the first three years of activity of the Santander Portugal Foundation and reflect its commitment to Portuguese society, as well as the ambition to be ever closer to people and help them achieve their lifelong goals.

Created in 2022, the Santander Foundation has already benefited 304,000 Portuguese people, with a total investment of 21.4 million euros. More than half of this amount was dedicated to education, a priority assumed by Santander as an essential driver of social and economic progress.

Through the Santander Open Academy, the Foundation provides free and accessible training for everyone, focusing on language retraining, digital skills and sustainability. Since its launch, more than 100,000 people in Portugal have already been supported with access to 151 courses and training programmes, developed in partnership with 12 leading universities and institutions.

• The courses are open to audiences aged 17 and over, with no age limit.
• Access to international training is also envouraged to ensure that Portuguese talent has opportunities at global level.

Access to higher education continues to be one of the main challenges for many young people in Portugal. Over the last three years, the Santander Foundation, in partnership with higher education institutions, has awarded more than 1,800 scholarships for for access, continued study and mobility in higher education.  

These scholarships, many of them not based on academic merit but on criteria of social inclusion, represent a concrete response to combating inequalities and breaking cycles of exclusion.

• 58% of scholarship holders in 2024 are beneficiaries of educational social support.
• The scholarships reached students from 84 municipalities, including the Azores and Madeira, and from 14 different nationalities.
• The programmes include personalised mentoring and monitoring, promoting not only access, but also retention and academic success.

In 2024, Santander Portugal also reinforced its role as a partner bank for small and medium-sized enterprises, including concrete solutions to support the most urgent challenges — from energy transition to digitisation, from treasury management to internationalisation.

• Around 980 million euros were made available across financing lines agreed with the European Investment Bank, focusing on energy efficiency, digitisation and growth capital.

Santander's commitment therefore goes far beyond traditional financial services. This campaign highlights central themes for society, such as youth housing, to support more and more people in acquiring their own home; education, as a catalyst for social mobility; entrepreneurship and financial literacy, to reinforce Santander's contribution to building a more inclusive and sustainable future.

The Transforming Lives campaign. Start Now. Transforming Lives will be mostly visible on billboards in urban centres, as well as at local branches and on digital channels, reinforcing Santander's vision: building the future for all, today.

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