Santander promises to become 'digital bank with branches' despite closures and profit slump
Santander is promising to be a "digital bank with branches"
GETTY
Santander has promised its customers it will "become a digital bank with branches" despite recent closures after publishing its most recent half-year results.
The high street financial institution saw its half-year profits plummet by almost a third due to falling mortgage lending and higher savings rates.
According to the Spanish-owned bank, it is hoping for a boost from "tailwinds" during the last six months of 2024.
Based on its latest results, Santander reported a 31 per cent drop in pre-tax profits to £804million in the first half of 2024.
Over the period, mortgage loans dropped by £4.4billion in the last six months while the bank's net interest income fell 11 per cent.
Notably, Santander pledged to continue to have a physical presence on the high street despite widespread bank branch closures.
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Bank branch closures are continuing at an 'alarming rate', according to Which?GETTY From December 2023 to June 2024, the number of the bank's branches fell from 8,823 fell to 8,518 across 12 different markets.
This means Santander has seen 305 of its branches close in the last six months.
Notably, the bank has also closed one branch in the UK over the past year.
This comes as banks are under greater scrutiny by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over their decision-making regarding closures.
High street banks and building societies will have to defend their reasoning behind branch shut downs and make an effort to ensure access to cash services.
Banks, including Lloyds, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, have shut down sites over the past year.
Santander is the first major banking group to unveil its half-results for this year.
Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest also expected to report lower profits when they report interim figures on Thursday and Friday respectively.
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Other banks, including Barclays, have shut down sites
GETTYMike Regnier, the chief executive of Santander, outlined the bank's current financial predicament.
He explained: “Our first half financial results were in line with our expectations, with a more positive trajectory reflecting improvements in the second quarter.”
Furthermore, he noted that “the impact of our pricing actions” will assist in creating “net interest margin tailwinds" over the next six months.
Mortgage lenders have witnessed drop back this year after bumper returns seen in the past two years amid renewed competition in the mortgage and savings market.
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