Banco Santander has entered into a partnership with OpenAI as part of its plan to become what it calls an “AI-native” bank by 2027, embedding artificial intelligence across its operations, platforms and customer services.
The Spanish lender said the collaboration builds on its existing data and AI strategy, which delivered more than €200 million in cost savings in 2024 through AI deployments. The bank has also rolled out ChatGPT Enterprise to almost 15,000 employees in Europe and the Americas, with plans to double the number by the end of this year.
Ricardo Martín Manjón, Santander’s chief data and AI officer, said in a statement: “We’re not chasing hype. Our data and AI-first strategy is how we deliver smarter solutions, happier customers and a future-ready bank.”
AI tools are now involved in more than 40% of the bank’s contact centre interactions, while speech analytics in Spain automatically processes 10 million voice calls annually, saving over 100,000 work hours, according to Santander. Around 6,000 developers are also using AI copilots that the bank said have boosted productivity by up to 30% on some tasks.
Santander added that AI training will become mandatory for all employees from 2026, with a central module focused on responsible AI. The bank said it applies “rigorous ethical, legal and cybersecurity standards,” and emphasised that no customer data is shared externally to train models.
The partnership with OpenAI forms part of a wider ecosystem approach that also includes collaborations with Microsoft, Amazon and several start-ups. Looking ahead, Santander said it aims to expand the use of conversational banking and AI agents across both front- and back-office operations.
