Santander Considers Leaving UK as It Ramps Up to Full-Service Digital Bank in US
Not long after pledging to operate a digital bank in America, Spain’s most valuable lender is reevaluating its business in the UK.

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Is the matador running from the bull market? Less than three months after pledging to have a full-service digital bank up and running in America by the end of 2025, Spain’s most valuable lender is reevaluating its business in the UK.
Santander is exploring a partial Brexit, the Financial Times reported Saturday, some 20 years after it Brentered the British market and kickstarted a multinational makeover.
Shifting Gears
Residents of the US Northeast — where Santander has over 400 branches offering retail accounts — and car owners — it’s the fifth-largest auto lender in the US — are most likely to be familiar with the Spanish bank’s American presence.
Car loans have proven a headache for Santander in the UK of late. The bank put aside £295 million ($358 million) in November to deal with potential exposure to an industry-wide court ruling that found it illegal for dealerships to take commissions from banks without customers’ informed consent.
Even before that ruling, Santander was cost-cutting in the UK, where its returns are lower than other markets, with a headcount reduction of 1,400 announced in October. The group has also been slimming the relative size of its UK business: Santander’s risk-weighted assets in Britain comprised 12.7% of the total in the first half of 2024, down from 14.3% in 2020. At the same time, it’s openly eyeing major US growth:
- Santander’s digital bank, Openbank, launched in the US in October with high-yield savings accounts. And by the end of 2025, Openbank — already the largest digital bank in Europe with €18.5 billion in deposits — is set to offer American customers a full suite of financial services including savings products and auto loans (the expansion is expected to contribute to funding for $30 billion in auto loans).
- No decision is imminent about Santander’s UK presence, the FT reported, and the bank is exploring several options. Even if it did pull the plug on its retail and commercial bank in the UK, it would maintain a corporate and investment banking presence in the important London financial hub.
The Carefully Worded Reply: “The UK is a core market for Santander, and this has not changed,” the bank told the FT in a statement, not directly addressing whether it is contemplating a change.