Responsible

Banking

Our approach
By delivering on our purpose to help people and businesses prosper, we grow as a business and can help society address its challenges.


“At Santander, we’ve always known we have a responsibility to support society – and I have no doubt that we’ll continue to fulfill it. We are determined to help businesses and communities across the world build back better – and use this as an opportunity to address global challenges such as inequality and climate change. This is the right thing to do – the responsible thing to do, and the path to generate value for our shareholders.

In 2020, the covid-19 pandemic forced us to face yet another challenge – an economic crisis that devastated millions. As we look ahead, governments and companies must come together to build back better, so that we emerge from this crisis stronger, supporting inclusive and sustainable growth around the world. Banks have a critical role to play. We are part of the solution. We have a crucial duty and an essential role: to support our employees, our customers, and to deliver sustainable returns to you, our shareholders”.

Ana Botín,
Group Executive Chairman.





How we helped people and businesses prosper in 2020







A. From group consolidated financial statements.
B. Including financial business activities and customer prepayments.
C. The maximum allowed in accordance with the limits set by the European Central Bank (ECB) in its recommendation last December.
D. Data refers exclusively to purchases negotiated by Aquanima.

What our stakeholders tell us

To build a more responsible bank, understanding and responding to all our stakeholders is fundamental.

Listening to our stakeholders and creating value

Loyalty is key to lasting value. Earning and retaining it depends on our ability to understand all our stakeholders’ concerns and respond to their needs. By listening to them and measuring their perceptions of Grupo Santander, we not only identify issues, but also find opportunities to add value.

Grupo Santander has several approaches to gauging stakeholder opinion. We run surveys and speak-up channels for our employees. We engage our customers through interactive platforms. We also respond to demands from top analysts, investors and indexes interested in environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters.





We keep pace with new regulations and best practices worldwide. We take part in consultations with authorities, sector associations and other organizations that influence sustainable development policymaking. We assess externalities to identify risks and opportunities to our business, appraise our impact on the community and create value for society and the environment.

We are also involved in major local and international initiatives to support inclusive and sustainable growth (see ‘Joint initiatives to promote our agenda’ in ‘Governance and priorities’).


Materiality assessment: Identifying the issues that matter

Grupo Santander analyses the environmental, social and governance issues our stakeholders care about the most. Every year, we run quantitative and qualitative assessments of our value chain, gathering information from internal and external sources, including the dialogue •channels mentioned above. We weight inputs on their level of materiality, which is revised every year to reflect reality.




The matrix below, which shows the topics our stakeholders consider most relevant for Santander, helps us focus our priorities, initiatives and programmes across the Group. In 2020, we addressed these issues in order to strengthen our responsible business practices and ethical behaviour, tackle climate change, support the transition to a low-carbon economy, promote financial inclusion and create a diverse and talented team, while managing and developing it.





Group material topics matrixA



Changes in the analysis from 2019

We’ve redefined certain material topics:

  • Talent Management and Development includes incentives linked to ESG criteria.
  • Diversity, Inclusion and Well-being includes health and welfare-related aspects.
  • Financial Inclusion and Empowerment includes financial literacy.
  • Simple, Personal and Fair (SPF) products and services refers to responsible practices towards customers.
  • Climate Strategy covers the integration of climate change into the climate change risks &business opportunities strategy.


We’ve added inputs to the materiality assessment: 2020 megatrends from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), social media, Net Promoter Score (NPS) drivers for customers, new employee surveys and insights from Responsible Banking workshops.

Three topics – Diversity, Inclusion and Well-being, ESG Products and Services, and Financial Inclusion and Empowerment – gained significance in 2020.

A. Issues such as food waste, light and noise pollution, and biodiversity are not material to the group.

Challenges and opportunities

Grupo Santander operates in a fast-changing world, full of new challenges and opportunities. Our materiality assessment identified two core challenges: the new business environment, and inclusive and sustainable growth. By addressing these, we embed our approach to the environment, society and governance in all we do.

Adapting to an evolving world

The economy is changing fast. Digital technology is transforming markets as well as business models. In this highly competitive environment, companies must work in new ways to ensure responsible business practices.

Santander, like all businesses, needs a motivated, diverse and skilled workforce that is able to deliver what customers want, while harnessing the power of new technology. We operate in a fastmoving highly regulated business environment. Our task is to exceed our stakeholders’ expectations by doing the basics brilliantly, every day. Key to this is having a strong culture - a business in which all we do is Simple, Personal and Fair.

Helping society achieve its goals

Growth should satisfy the needs of today without hampering future generations’ ability to meet their own. A balance should always be struck between economic growth, social welfare and environmental protection. Financial institutions can contribute to this by managing their operations responsibly, and lending responsibly to help society achieve its goals.

We can play a major role to promote inclusive and sustainable growth. ‘Inclusive’ means meeting customer needs, helping people open businesses and create jobs, promoting financial empowerment and getting people the education they need. ‘Sustainable’ means financing renewable energy and smart infrastructure and tech to tackle climate change. We take the social and environmental risks and rewards of our operations into account, contributing to greater balance in the economy and society.

Integrating ESG topics that matter into our strategy to meet the two identified challenges.



Governance and priorities

All our activity is guided by principles, frameworks and policies to ensure we behave responsibly in all we do. We revised and strengthened our responsible banking governance to help us tackle the two challenges we identified.

A. Includes the Group’s Diversity & Inclusion Principles and the Corporate Volunteering Standard.
B. It replaces the sectoral policies on energy, mining and metals and soft commodities.
C. Includes financial consumer protection principles.
D. Includes principles on the responsible behaviour of suppliers.