Santander expects its investment in artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver €1 billion in business value through cost savings and increased revenue.
Announcing its plans for the next two years at an event in London, Spanish Heritage Bank said data and AI are key parts of its broader One Transformation digital programme.
Santander announced its 2026-28 plans at an investor event, including a goal to grow its customer base from the current 180 million to 200 million by 2028. Santander announced plans to acquire TSB last year, which would increase the bank’s UK customer base by around 5 million people.
The bank also outlined the business value that data and artificial intelligence will bring by 2028.
The company said that by 2028, it expects its data and AI initiatives to generate more than €1 billion of annual business value in terms of cost savings and revenue.
“Investments in data and AI are key levers of One Transformation, fully integrated into the business and focused on hyper-personalized customer journeys, AI-powered field productivity and end-to-end process automation,” Santander said in a statement.
“We are leveraging a decade of investments in technology and AI to build a global financial services platform,” said Ana Botín, executive chairman of the bank.
AI acceleration
The bank accelerated its use of AI last year after achieving cost savings of 200 million euros the previous year. In August 2025, the company announced that it would require AI training for all employees starting this year, as it plans to make technology part of its DNA.
In addition to a mandatory AI training plan for all employees, which includes teaching them how to use AI responsibly, the bank is providing training to development, marketing, and front-line staff.
Santander isn’t the only bank benefiting from AI. As the project moved from pilot to production, the number of UK banks reporting productivity gains from the technology doubled.
According to the latest information from Lloyds Banking Group, Financial institution psychological survey59% of companies surveyed reported productivity gains from AI in the past 12 months, compared to 32% in 2024.
Banks also reported increasing benefits from AI in other areas. Our latest survey found that 21% of respondents believe AI is directly driving business growth (compared to 8% in our survey a year ago).
Meanwhile, a third (33%) of respondents said AI is improving the customer experience, up from 14% in the previous survey. The same number of people say they are gaining deeper customer insights through AI, up from 18% in last year’s survey.
There are limits to cost reduction
Banks can save significantly on operational costs with AI, but if they don’t leverage AI to improve customer experience and service, they will face reduced profits.
According to a new report from McKinsey, cost savings from AI could be up to 20% once the cost of the technology is taken into account, but profits for the banking industry could fall by 9% as customers move funds based on recommendations from AI agents.
McKinsey said, “While the savings effect is welcome, it will be short-lived.” “As with previous innovations, competition will likely erode banks’ profits, with most of the benefits going to customers over time.”
According to the report, $23 trillion of the $70 trillion in global consumer deposits is held in zero-interest checking accounts, with much of the remainder held in low-interest accounts.
“If it’s only 5% to 10%, [current account] “Balances are moving to market-high interest rates, which could be driven by AI agents, and could reduce the banking industry’s total deposit returns by more than 20%,” McKinsey said.
