Mexico City, Mexico — Banco Santander México has announced an investment of $500 million USD in the country to improve infrastructure and service to customers. In a press conference, the bank said the money will be invested in its infrastructure, systems and cybersecurity to improve its customer experience.
“We estimate an investment of 500 million dollars and we are going to continue with last year’s infrastructure plans, in new projects that have been delayed by the pandemic,” said Ana Botín, Executive Chariman of the Santander Group.
Botín, who is visiting Mexico to meet with government authorities, said she wants to know the initiatives and priorities of the Mexican government in terms of infrastructure for the following months.
“We are seeing what programs or what initiatives they are thinking about over the next months or years for investments. In 2019, we announced an investment program in infrastructure that has been delayed by the pandemic, so now, we hope to resume this conversation,” she said.
The number of transactions carried out by the bank showed an increase of 43 percent in the last year, so the investment will go toward strengthening systems in existing ATMs and branches, said Héctor Grisi, general director of Santander Mexico.
The $500 million investment includes cybersecurity to prevent fraud against clients. “We are very involved in firewalls in order to make it safe to operate with us,” he said.
“Santander is one of the most active banks in the sector, especially in the Riviera Maya corridor. We are the bank with the most financing for new developments. We have restructured and refinanced most of the loans to this sector,” added Grisi.
Botín said the investment in the bank is a sign that it trusts “Mexico will do well”, and that it will continue to grow in the number of clients.