It now has the highest organic nominal growth in its loan portfolio among private banks over the past three years and the largest private sector loan portfolio and deposits, boasting 9.8% and 9.6%, respectively.
Santander Rio has continued to strengthen its balance sheet, drive up quality earnings and generating impressive profitability. It has also been keen to improve shareholder return by focusing on the most dynamic and profitable customer segments. In the past 12 months it has opened 25 new branches and seven specialised collection points exclusively for company cash management transactions.
The bank places particular emphasis on using technology to improve services and drive customer acquisition. For example, Santander Rio has continued to develop its proprietary customer relationship management (CRM) and credit risk assessment systems and is now the only Argentine bank with the capacity to reply to online credit requests in less than 20 seconds via all of its channels. The CRM system has also enabled the bank to grow its client base: in the past 12 months, retail customer numbers have risen by 18%, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and corporates by 30%.
“Santander Rio is the largest private bank of Argentina, with 10.2% market share in loans and 9.4% in deposits. We led the country’s credit recovery after the 2001/02 crisis, standing out with the highest organic growth in loan portfolio in the past four years. We have a strong balance sheet, concentrated in the private sector. Our strategy is focused on deepening customer linkage in the most dynamic and profitable segments. We are highly leveraged in transactional business, driving quality of earnings, high profitability and low risks, which will be a key element in a more volatile scenario,” says Enrique Cristofani, head of Santander’s Argentina business.
