Santander has unveiled a major cost-cutting plan fuelled by artificial intelligence.
The bank’s parent company, Banco Santander, aims to save more than €500 million (£433 million) by expanding its use of AI across global operations, including Santander UK.
Ricardo Martin Manjon, chief data and AI officer at Banco Santander, said: “Santander is moving from AI ambition to execution.
“One year after setting out our ambition to become a data and AI-first bank, artificial intelligence is already helping us improve how we work, serve customers, manage risk, and run the bank.
Banking is changing, and so must we.
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This move will provide us with the scale needed to accelerate our transformation and become the best bank for all our… pic.twitter.com/zjZDiqQ2rg
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“Santander already has a clear AI strategy, measurable impact, and the scale to turn selected capabilities into group-wide value.
“We are not starting from theory: AI is already improving processes, supporting our teams, and opening new opportunities across the bank.
“Now the opportunity is to move forward with focus, discipline, and ambition.”
The group expects more than €1 billion (£860 billion) in combined revenue gains and cost savings from AI between 2026 and 2028, with over half of that total coming from reduced expenses.
Most of the savings are expected to come from automation, productivity improvements, and process simplification.
The lending giant did not disclose how many jobs will be impacted as part of the plan. It is understood the group has not announced a programme to cut its workforce linked to the AI rollout.
By the end of 2026, Santander aims to deliver more than €200 million (£173.4 million) in group-wide “business value” from AI, including both increased revenue and cost savings.
The bank said it recorded €35 million (£30.3 million) of benefit from AI in the first quarter, with this figure expected to grow during the second quarter.
As part of its broader adoption strategy, Banco Santander is giving AI access to all 185,000 staff worldwide, including around 15,000 employees in the UK.
Currently, nearly 40,000 employees are actively using the technology.
The bank said it is rolling out the tech across its UK voice channels to help with customer card-related queries.
Santander has a target for around 240,000 calls—equivalent to 40 per cent of annual call volume—to be resolved via self-service.
The bank estimates this could save customers about 26,000 hours collectively, while freeing up 45,000 hours for service teams to focus on more complex requests.
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Mr Martin Manjon said that AI is “not only about efficiency,” emphasising that it also creates growth opportunities.
Lloyds Banking Group said earlier this year the tech had directly provided a £50 million profit boost in 2025 through both revenue gains and cost savings.
Banks worldwide are increasingly turning to AI to help cut costs.
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