19th Jan 2006 11:55
Banco Santander Central Hispano SA19 January 2006 Press Release Santander eliminates service charges for core customers The Bank will eliminate administrative and service fees on current and savings accounts, issuance and renewal of debit cards, domestic transfers and money movements done within the European Union, cheque deposit and issuance, and balance consultations, movements and cash withdrawals in all of the Santander network's ATMs. 2.2 million retail customers will stop paying these charges from tomorrow. To benefit from the Plan, the customer must be a holder of one of these products: mortgage, payroll deposit, pension deposit or pension plan. Madrid, January 19th, 2006. Santander launched today the "We want to be yourbank" Plan, a mass-market commercial strategy that will initially allow 2.2 million retail customers of the Santander network in Spain to stop paying service charges from tomorrow. To benefit from the Plan, the customer has to bea holder of one of these four products: mortgage, direct deposit of payroll or pension or pension Plan, or a private or personal banking client. The Plan covers co-account holders of any of these groups. The customer doesn't have to open an account or visit an office. The commissionswill be automatically eliminated and the Bank will communicate it to thebeneficiary. The charges that are being eliminated are commissions for: service andadministration of current and savings accounts; issuance and renewal of debitcards; domestic transfers and money movements done within the European Union upto EUR 50,000; cheque deposit and issuance; and consultation of balances,movements and cash withdrawals in all of the Santander network's ATMs. The goal of this strategy is to make Santander the premier financial institutionfor retail customers, with a special focus on the quality of service and aninnovative variety of products that serves their needs. The "We want to be yourbank" Plan is not a campaign product, but a new relationship model with noexpiry date for current and future customers. "This is the first time a big bank is breaking the fee system and launching astrategy of this type. We are reviewing all our concepts, starting all overagain. It's a long-range project which represents an absolute transformation ofthe existing bank-customer relationship to enhance confidence, giving freeservices to those clients that place their trust in us", said Enrique GarciaCandelas, General Manager for the Commercial Banking Division. "Our solid earnings position allows us to invest boldly in the retail market",he added. Mr Garcia Candelas detailed the Plan's five key points: - Management with a customer focus, taking into account profitability and potential. - Development of an innovative product offer to cover clients' needs together with a higher service quality. - Implementation of a prices and fees plan which is tailored to the customer's profitability and potential. - Implementation of a new model which reinforces centralized sales activities. - Development of an image and brand that is close to retail customers. The Santander network has 2,779 branches in Spain, 16,482 employees and 7.6million clients. At the end of 2005, credit investment was EUR 93,300 millionand managed customer funds EUR 98,600 million. A press conference will be hosted today in Madrid at 12:00 (Madrid time) inorder to present the "We want to be your bank" plan and to review the evolutionof the Santander retail banking business during 2005. The presentation materialsare available at the corporate web www.gruposantander.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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