Santander Spain launches strategy and products.
The aim is to retain its customers and attract new ones, taking advantage of the possible flight of users from Bankia and CaixaBank due to their merger.
On November 5, the bank will launch Santander One, a new model for individuals and companies based on a single account associated with essential services without commissions for linked customers and the possibility of contracting personalized value-added service plans under the subscription model.
It suppresses more than 16 accounts that the bank had in Spain until now, although it tightens the bonding requirements for the client if they want to enjoy zero commissions.
The objective is to simplify the offer of products, so Santander One will replace the rest of the accounts that to date it markets as Account 1,2,3 (imported from the United Kingdom in 2015), Day by Day Account, Account 81, or Standard Account.
Only the Smart Account for youth, the Mini Account for children and the Basic Account will continue to be available.
But, in addition to simplifying its account offering, the bank increases the requirements for a client to benefit from having no commissions.
The Santander One account will be its star product this season, a new model for individuals and companies based on a single account associated with essential services with zero commissions for linked clients and the possibility of contracting, personalized value-added service plans under the subscription model, a pioneer in the financial industry, as explained by the bank to the staff on Thursday in a ceremony presented by Rami Aboukhair, CEO of Santander Spain.
It will be your hook product, as was Account 1,2,3, launched in Spain in 2015 after its initial success in the United Kingdom, but it will have more requirements to get more out of the customer.
In this way, Santander One will replace the rest of the accounts that it markets to date (Account 1,2,3 Individuals, Day-to-Day Account, Zero Account 1,2,3, Account 81, or Standard Account, among others), just continuing Smart Account for young people, Mini Account for children and Basic Account available.
In total, it will stop trading 16 accounts.
To be considered linked, the client must have his payroll or pension, three direct debit receipts and a financing product (loans, mortgage or renting) or savings (investment fund, pension plan or savings insurance) or protection (insurance of home, car, life, or accidents).
Clients who only have payroll or income, or only a savings, financing or protection product, will have to pay 10 euros per month for account maintenance and essential services, while inactive clients will pay 20 euros per month (what same as CaixaBank).
Linked customers will be able to carry out their usual operations through digital channels and in the 40,000 ATMs of the Santander network in the world and will not pay commissions for basic services (debit and credit cards, national transfers via internet and Bizum), and will be able to add the personalized services they choose under subscription.
Santander has also sealed a strategic alliance with Iberia to launch a plan to attract and retain individuals and companies, Santander One Iberia Plus (Banco Popular already had something similar).
The agreement gives customers access to Avios redeemable for flights, hotel nights in Paradores and other chains, car rental or leisure and gastronomy experiences.
Santander customers will accumulate Avios for their usual operations and for contracting products: up to 15,000 Avios for directing the payroll (exchangeable for a roundtrip flight across Europe), 5,000 Avios for registering an insurance, 25,000 Avios for hiring a renting of cars and up to 500,000 avios for transferring a pension plan (equivalent to the flights needed to go around the world).
Rami Aboukhair has commented in an act with the staff, and in which the commercial general director, Antonio Román, was also present: “With Santander One we launched a new proposal so that our clients do not pay commissions for their accounts and cards, they have the better services across all channels and can subscribe to value-added plans so that they only pay for what they need.
Furthermore, thanks to our alliance with Iberia, we reward our clients with Santander One Iberia Plus, the best loyalty program on the market ”.
The Santander One Iberia Plus program has three levels:
Basic (free), Premium and Elite, which increases the benefits depending on the movements and products that are contracted.
The Premium plan, for 4 euros per month, offers 250 Avios per month for having payroll and 250 more for having direct debit bills, the possibility of accumulating Avios for every 3 euros of credit card purchases.
In addition, a welcome bonus to the 9,000 Avios Plan will be available.
It also includes other benefits such as a 10% discount on Iberia flights and an extra 25% on Avios when buying flights on Iberia.com.
In addition to the Santander One Iberia Plus Plan, the bank offers four other contractable plans for a fixed monthly fee of three euros for individuals and six euros for companies:
· Santander One Travel Plan: allows you to withdraw money without limits at any ATM in the world with the Santander One Debit card and exempts commissions for purchases in non-euro currency.
In addition, it includes a system to make emergency cash available to the customer throughout the world.
· Santander One VIP Service Plan: offers personalized attention 24 hours a day any day of the week to deal with problems with passwords, cards or any other reason.
· Santander One Payments Plan: allows unlimited immediate national and international transfers, as well as unlimited deposits of national checks in euros at any branch.
· Santander Digital Security Plan: provides clients with a 24-hour legal family protection service and offers the possibility of saving passwords and valuable documents in the bank.
In line with the group's objective of advancing in the simplification of the product offering, Santander One, which has associated cards (Santander One Debit Card, Santander All in One Credit Card and Santander One Aplaza Card) replaces the rest of the accounts in commercialization to date.
Only the Smart Account for young people, the Mini Account for children and the Basic Account remain available.
To be considered linked, the client must direct debit their payroll or pension, three direct debit receipts and a financing product (loans, mortgage or renting) or savings (investment fund, pension plan, savings insurance ...) or protection ( home, auto, life, accident insurance…).
Clients who only have payroll or income, or only a savings, financing or protection product, will pay 10 euros per month for account maintenance and essential services.
Inactive customers, who do not have direct debit income or contracted products, will pay 20 euros per month.
CaixaBank also applies a commission of 20 euros per month to inactive customers.
Santander also launches new ranges of insurance with premiums starting at 10 euros per month and reduces from 10,000 to 5,000 euros the amount of minimum savings required in managing investments through Managed Portfolios in order to facilitate the requirements of bonding.
In addition, it has offers in financing products such as computer and mobile phone renting from 15 euros per month, loans for home renovations and loans for the purchase of ecological cars.
In the case of the self-employed, micro-enterprises and SMEs, Santander reinforces its financial support and commercial orientation services, with rates from zero to 30 euros per month, depending on the relationship.
The bank offers the new Santander One Empresas cards without issuance or maintenance commission and makes One Digital available to its customers, the new specialized internet platform with the possibility of making transfers over the Internet throughout the European Union and other countries that accept euros. (SEPA), access Bizum services, operate in foreign currency and other services to digitize the self-employed, micro-businesses and SMEs, such as Santander ZOne, the sales platform through which exclusive offers can be made and sold to Santander clients .
"The competition charges more"
The presentation of this new account has lasted about 28 minutes in which an announcement is included, defined by the attendees as futuristic.
During this time, the bank has explained that Santander will differentiate itself with this new account because it will have fewer commissions, compared to other entities that now "charge more for services that they already offered."
Regarding the agreement with Iberia, he explains that with 5 million Avios customers, only 1 million make use of Avios, and it is the remaining 4 million that Santander wants to address with this agreement.
In addition, with companies "we want to go beyond loans with ICO endorsement," they assured Thursday in their presentation.
They assure that "we are creating the bank of the future", a "ONE" bank with unique clients.
"Doing a bank is doing a country," the bank assures in the new announcement that may be launched next month.
