Banco Santander’s CEO, Javier Marín, today announced the launch of Santander Advance, a project that places SMEs at the centre of the group’s business strategy and aims to make Santander their partner of choice for growth in all its markets. Under this initiative, which starts today in Spain and will be operating in all the group’s main markets by 2015, the bank expects to expand SME lending by more than 10% in each of its markets this year. It will also improve its internal processes.

1. Comunicación Externa.
Ciudad Grupo Santander Edificio Arrecife Pl. 2
28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) Telf.: 34 91 289 52 11
email: comunicacionbancosantander@gruposantander.com
Press Release
Santander launches Santander Advance, a global
strategy to become SMEs’ partner for growth
The bank expects to increase lending to SMEs by more than 10% in all the
countries where it is present. It will improve services, speed up response times
and offer SMEs all the tools they need to grow
■ Santander Spain aims to achieve EUR 30 billion of new SME loans this year, an
increase of 24%, and aims to grow its customer base by 22%.
■ The bank shares with the companies the advantages of a global group with a strong
international presence and guarantees the support, services and products that
companies need to expand internationally.
■ Companies will have a “Santander Passport”, which will give customers carrying
out business abroad access to the same services at the group’s subsidiaries in
other countries.
■ It is launching a special fund, Advance Fund, which will mainly invest in SMEs
through subordinated debt. In Spain, it will have EUR 250 million available for
projects worth at least EUR 1 million. This model will be extended to other
countries.
■ As well as increasing SME lending in each of its markets, the group will provide
training programmes, international connection and employment initiatives so that
small and medium-sized companies can gain size and competitiveness. The bank
will also implement a digital platform for cooperation.
Madrid, March 25, 2014 – Banco Santander’s CEO, Javier Marín, today announced the
launch of Santander Advance, a project that places SMEs at the centre of the group’s
business strategy and aims to make Santander their partner of choice for growth in all its
markets. Under this initiative, which starts today in Spain and will be operating in all the
group’s main markets by 2015, the bank expects to expand SME lending by more than 10% in
each of its markets this year. It will also improve its internal processes to cut down response
times and enable it to provide a more specialised service to the sector.
As well as the additional financing and specific product line for SMEs in each of its markets,
Santander will offer a range of tools to help small companies develop and overcome

2. Comunicación Externa.
Ciudad Grupo Santander Edificio Arrecife Pl. 2
28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) Telf.: 34 91 289 52 11
email: comunicacionbancosantander@gruposantander.com
obstacles to growth. For this, the bank is launching the Santander Advance Development
programme with four basic pillars: recruitment and training, international expansion,
employment and connectivity. The bank’s objective is to provide support to 200,000
companies under the Advance Development programme between 2014 and 2016.
With this project, which includes the group’s good practices in this segment of markets such
as UK (Breakthrough), Santander aims to share the advantages of belonging to a global
group with a strong international presence. As well as providing the services, products and
tools that companies need to expand internationally, the bank will launch the Santander
Passport in the next few months. This is an identifier that guarantees companies doing
business abroad access to specialist local support and gives Santander customers the same
advantages they’d have in their market at any of the group’s subsidiaries in other countries.
Santander’s chief executive Javier Marin said, “Santander Advance will become the new
model for the whole group’s relationship with small and medium-sized companies. The bank
is making progress in segmenting its business and deepening its focus on customers. It can
now share with SMEs the advantages of being part of a well-capitalised and highly liquid
international group, with a strong presence in key markets. SMEs are a strategic segment for
Banco Santander and we want to be partners with them in their growth plans. We want more
customers, who are also better linked and more satisfied”
Within this comprehensive offer, Marín also announced the Advance Fund, a financing vehicle
for medium- and long-term projects, mainly by investing in the SMEs through subordinated
debt. It will start in Spain with EUR 250 million for projects of at least EUR 1 million. The
model will then be extended to other markets.
Launch in Spain
Enrique García Candelas, senior executive vice president and head of Santander España,
explained the plans for Spain, where the bank expects to provide EUR 30 billion of new
lending, implying an increase of 24%. Its target is to grow its customers base by 22% on top
of the 280,000 it already has (including small, medium and micro companies, but excluding
retailers and the self-employed). The bank also wants to raise the number of linked customers
by 29%.
In addition to extra lending, lower interest rates for linked customers and competitively priced
products designed specifically for SMEs, Santander España will make its approval processes
more agile and provide specialist advisors exclusively for SMEs.
Regarding Santander Advance’s development programmes in 2014, over 20,000 SMEs will
have access to training, internationalization and employment initiatives in Spain. Santander
will offer 5,000 scholarships to university students for internships in SMEs.
“We have the most complete product range in the market,” García Candelas said. “We want
to stand by SMEs as they grow, help them through all the financial and non-financial
difficulties they encounter and accompany them in their internationalization.”
To ensure the success of the strategy, Santander España has taken a number of specific
steps in recent months to improve its model of customer service, its price and risk

3. Comunicación Externa.
Ciudad Grupo Santander Edificio Arrecife Pl. 2
28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) Telf.: 34 91 289 52 11
email: comunicacionbancosantander@gruposantander.com
management, its human resources structure, increasing the number of specialist sales staff
for this segment, the technical platform and all the processes needed to guarantee faster
response times.
Santander España will provide a digital platform, www.santanderadvance.com, where
SMEs can find useful contents and tools to improve their training through online and
classroom courses. The platform will provide information about credit lines and banking
products, public sector financing available (through the European Investment Bank and
Spain’s Official Credit Institute). It includes a link to www.santandertrade.com, a site
designed for companies looking for opportunities in international markets.
For more information, please see:
www.santander.com
www.santanderadvance.com