Rita Maccario
IPMI International Business School
Amelia Naim Indrajaya
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Being rewarded as one of the best international banks is not easy to achieve. In this way, Santander Totta mainly focuses on being simple, personal, and fair by taking into account not only the financial side but also providing an investment in people and in the whole society. They truly believe that keeping their customers is a good way to be profitable. Santander Universities is one of the most important investments held by the company with the objective to support higher education, children's education, and job creation.
Sustainability is being accomplished through a customer-oriented business model oriented to the customer's needs, and investing in universities is known as one of the most important resources for profitability and loyalty.
In the last year, the Bank had set some innovations and products to guarantee its sustainability. The Bank created many policies to accomplish its business model. Although a bank, it is still concerned with the protection of the environment and had developed a policy based on helping people. Helping and investing in universities is a crucial point for the bank's progress and innovation.
In the beginning of 2016, Santander Totta created a new objective: awarding 130,000 scholarships or grants to students between 2016 and 2018. The company is really concerned with customer needs and had set some corporate methodology for contributing to social and economic progress while preserving the environment in the areas of higher education, entrepreneurship and job creation, children’s education, financial education, welfare, and culture.
This would be provided by training people, giving grants, innovation, and modernizing universities.
In order to fulfill its goals, the main actions taken by the company are the creation of some new activities such as:
1. Scholarship program
Santander leads the largest scholarship program financed by a private company with 36,684 university scholarships grants awarded in 2016, including internships, lectures and research, training, excellence, innovation, and entrepreneurship. This is one way used by the company to contribute to the SDGs.
2. Entrepreneurship in universities
This program offers different activities as an important role in social and internal progress for people and companies. In this way, the company took many activities based on higher education, always trying to contribute to the needs of society. The company is really focused on innovation and research. Their aim is to contribute to social development and to help people based on education.
3. Light energy
This is a project that uses a light and compact fuel storage system for drones, based on hydrogen fuel cells, which allows the drones to fly longer distances. This project was a success, winning the YUZZ Santander National runners-up prize in 2016 and also winning one of the prizes in the RedEmprendia Model to Market business model competition.
4. Digitalization and innovation
The company is trying to improve its service qualities by creating the Santander CRUE App, virtual campuses, and the Student Smart Card.
5.Universia Foundation
This is a foundation that helps people find a job and promotes some facilities in training. They later guide programs to help disabled people find a niche in the job market, creating some opportunities through a platform.
Santander Totta focuses on guaranteeing the loyalty of people, customers, and communities. In this way the bank is inspired in having the best relationship with them by providing an excellent service. Their aim is to be the best retail and commercial bank, showing a simple, personal, and fair way of work.
Banco Santander has established itself as an institution that is committed to helping people through education. They invested 157 million euros in universities and had supported thousands of academic projects with the objective to improve education and create more opportunities for university students and invite research and innovation.
In 2016 the company achieved 36,684 scholarships granted, 3,549 projects with universities, 1 million jobs brokered, and 1.7 million people helped all around the world.
It shows that the projects are being well defined and that all the main objectives are being achieved.
Investment in higher education is a crucial part of Santander’s personal identity and is being accomplished by the progress of their business model. Along with social and environment benefits, the company has proven to be efficient and profitable. The bank invested 157 million euros in education.
Santander Group provides a sustainable business model, mainly focused on the customer and on their needs. This model not only integrates economic data, but also takes into account ethical, social, and environmental criteria. In that way, it is based on a long-term vision that allows the bank to maintain itself as an international reference and take advantage of the world’s transformation. The bank holds higher education to be one of the drivers of growth and progress; that's why these projects are an important source of development. Through agreements with international universities, the bank is contributing to the development of communities and preserving the environment.
They are using education as an empowering lever that contributes to solve many problems of humanity such as unemployment and education.
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Vanessa Tavira, Communication & Marketing Projects
Banco Santander Totta is the largest bank in the Eurozone and one of the largest in the world. The bank provides a customer-oriented business model, with a high level of demand for its results and resources. The model is based on six fundamental elements: commercial approach, discipline in capital and financial soundness, prudence on risks, geographical diversification, brand, and efficiency.
For Banco Santander, sustainability is one of the most important keys of its business activity, and the Bank is now focusing on contributing to the economic and social progress of the communities and society. By taking into account its impact on the environment and focusing on promoting a stable relationship with society, sustainability implies the integration of ethical, social, and environmental criteria in the strategy and business model as well as in the internal processes of the Bank.
Just like other companies, Banco Santander must contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through its business activities and its community investment programs.