• Responsible Banking Report | 2020
Letter from the Executive President

and Chief Executive Officer of Santander Mexico

Without a shadow of a doubt, 2020 was a year of many challenges, and one in which the pandemic put our many of our day-to-day activities to the test. However, it was also a year of major achievements, one that allowed us to demonstrate that we are up to the challenge. So, more than an obstacle, the situation we are facing has allowed us to transform and accelerate our digitalization, without preventing us from launching innovative products and services, in keeping with our mission to drive the progress of people and companies in our country.


It was also a year in which we continued to consolidate our position as the Responsible Bank that we are, fully aware of the impact of everything that we do, fully committed to protecting the environment, and fully supportive of the communities in which we live and work, ensuring that, at all times, what we do will have a lasting effect and guarantee better living conditions for future generations.

As a result of the pandemic, we implemented a series of unprecedented measures, not only to safeguard the health of our employees and our customers around the country, but also to minimize the impact the pandemic has had on their finances by offering deferred loan payments, debt restructuring and other benefits.

Furthermore, at Santander we are extremely proud of the contributions we have made to our society through our strategic partners, thanks to whom we were able to donate, to name just a few, more than MXN $15 million of medical equipment, provide support to healthcare professionals through the donation of more than 90,000 personal protection kits and 125,000 warm meals, and donate food parcels to low- income families who were not only affected by the pandemic but also by the floods in Tabasco.

In terms of financial inclusion, in 2020 Santander reached the milestone of more than 170,000 customers through Tuiio, our program offering financial services to people who do not traditionally have access to them, especially women entrepreneurs looking for loans to work, produce and improve their lives and those of their families. In 2020, Tuiio also played a key part of our role as one of the banks that channeled loans offered by the federal government to small businesses affected by the pandemic.

It is a source of pride to be the institution that most supports higher education in Mexico and in the world. In 2020, Santander offered more than 41,000 scholarships and financial assistance to students and entrepreneurs from around the country, an unprecedented number of people, thanks to the implementation of virtual scholarships as the result of lockdown.

Over the past 26 years, our Fideicomiso Por los Niños de México, Todos en Santander has donated more than MXN $143 million to 740 organizations that provide support in the areas of health, education and child nutrition, benefitting more than 354,000 boys and girls from our country. Without a doubt, this would not be possible without the growing participation and support of our employees, who are its cornerstone.

At Santander, we are also aware that diversity and inclusion – in terms of gender, age, sexual orientation or disabilities – make us stronger and play a critical role in better understanding the societies in which we work. As a result, in 2020 we bolstered our Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and we became a signatory of Pride Connection which, in conjunction with other measures, has enabled us to make advances in achieving a culture that recognizes that we are all “Equally Different”, and that we all have something to offer to make our society more inclusive, plural and, above all, respectful.

Finally, in terms of the environmental goals contained in our Responsible Banking Agenda, which ensure that our activities today do not compromise the tomorrow of future generations, in 2020, we achieved our global commitment of becoming carbon neutral, obtaining a Certified Emission Reduction totaling 67,845 tons of CO2. Santander also launched the SAM-ESG investment fund, the first in the country to offer sustainability criteria. We also consulted with FIRA (Fideicomisos Instituidos en Relación a la Agricultura) to help it create its sustainability policy, and we were involved in the issuance of the first gender bond in Mexico.

Thanks to our efforts in the area of responsible banking, in 2020 Santander Mexico was included for the first time ever in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index MILA Pacific Alliance Index. We were also recognized by International Finance Magazine as the best Financial Inclusion Bank in Mexico, in addition to being included on the S&P/BMV Total Mexico ESG Index and receiving the Socially Responsible Company (ESR) certification.

2020 was also the year in which Marcos Martínez Gavica stepped down as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Without his dedication, professionalism and passion for Santander, we would not be in the position of leadership that we find ourselves in today. In his place, we welcomed Laura Diez Barroso Azcárraga, who became the first – and only – woman to become the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of a financial institution in Mexico.

We would like to express our gratitude to Marcos for the more than two decades he dedicated to the Institution and for his generosity and unique vision, which will remain a lasting legacy at Santander Mexico. We would like to offer our full support to Laura, in the knowledge that we will reach the pinnacle of success thanks to her outstanding capacity, innovative perspective, and experience.

I would also like to thank our entire team for their professionalism, commitment and enthusiasm. In 2021, we will continue striving to implement even more actions that help drive development in the country, in addition to contributing to the creation of greener economies, more responsible consumer trends, and a greater social balance, all while consolidating our position as the Responsible Bank of Mexico and the world.

Héctor Grisi Checa
Executive President and Chief Executive Officer of Santander Mexico