Ana Botín pledges Santander will hire 3,000 IT professionals in 2020 for €20bn digital push

Spanish banking giant Santander is looking to recruit 3,000 IT professionals this year, as part of its four-year digital transformation project.

The announcement yesterday included 1,000 hires in Spain alone, with the rest being made globally.

“Having the best technology does not just mean having the best infrastructure, applications and processes. It also means having the best, most innovative talent,” Santander’s group executive chairman Ana Botín said yesterday. 

“We have an outstanding team at Santander and by adding new talent across each of our markets we can further accelerate our technological and digital transformation."

Last April Santander unveiled a €20bn four-year digital transformation project to conclude in 2022, with improvements to the customer experience and efficiency savings including €1.2bn in annual savings in the medium-term.

The acceleration in Santander’s hiring is likely due to its desire to make even greater efficiencies at a time when banking margins are being tightened by historically low interest rates.

Banks are also being hit by a reduction in FX and ATM fees caused by the sudden drop in overseas travel due to coronavirus.

Immediate hires will now join areas of the bank including its work on APIs, AI, cybersecurity, and enterprise architecture.

Currently Santander has over 195,000 employees across 10 European markets and the US, serving 146m customers.

Santander has certainly been making noise in the world of fintech and alternative lending over the past 12 months, with it taking a controlling stake in payment and currency platform Ebury and the recent launch of its own international money transfer app PagoFX.