Banco Santander reiterates its business and financial targets for 2016.

Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), 27 June 2016 Santander is a retail and commercial bank with a diversified geographical presence and critical mass in 10 core markets in Europe and the Americas. Our model is based on developing deep and long-lasting relationships with our customers, so we can help them prosper in a simple, personal and fair fashion. This model has proven resilient in the most adverse economic situations, like the recent political and economic crisis in Brazil, where Santander continues to meet its financial targets.

With regards to the second quarter earnings, and as we announced previously, we concluded a cost efficiency exercise in the second quarter. The cost associated (c.€500mn) was partially offset by the capital gains generated in the sale of our stake in Visa. The net impact in the quarter amounted to a charge of c.€250mn. As we shared in our first quarter earnings conference call, our aim is to offset the restructuring cost completely by the end of this year. At this point we reiterate that 2016 EPS will be above 2015 EPS.

We do not anticipate that recent events will have a material impact on Grupo Santander accounts in 2016. Accordingly, we are maintaining our previously-announced guidance for all core financial targets for the Group this year, which include: capital creation of 10 basis points per quarter, 40 basis points per annum in order to reach +11% by 2018; positive EPS growth; tangible book value per share growth; and a 10% increase in cash dividend per share and €21cents DPS. As such, all commercial and financial targets for this year are reiterated. We continue to deliver on all our commitments.

Banco Santander will be holding a Group Strategy Update on 30 September in London.

The presentations will be uploaded on 30 September to the Bank's corporate website www.santander.com.

Santander named Best Bank in the World for SMEs by Euromoney

Madrid, July 7, 2016. Euromoney has named Santander Best Bank in the World for Small and Medium-sized enterprises. According to the magazine, which introduced the SME award for the first time this year, Santander’s strategy goes beyond lending to address critical obstacles to growth for SMEs. These include the development of managerial skills, access to university talent, access to new international markets and digitalization. Euromoney highlighted Santander´s success at “carefully identifying the needs of smaller firms and matching them with the best solutions,” a strategy the bank has successfully implemented internationally.

Santander also won awards in five of its main markets. It was named Best Bank in Argentina for the seventh consecutive year, in Portugal for the fifth year in a row, Puerto Rico for the third year running, Poland for the second year in a row and Best Bank in Chile for the fifth time in 10 years. In addition, Santander was named Best Bank in Latin America in Wealth Management.

Ana Botín, Group executive chairman of Banco Santander, said: “These awards are a great honour for the entire team at Banco Santander. They reflect the commitment of our 190,000 employees around the world to helping people and businesses prosper. The Best Bank in the World for SMEs award recognizes our support for SMEs as they grow at home and expand internationally. The market and regional awards are the result of our consistent striving for excellence. There is always more to do, but we are extremely grateful to be recognized by Euromoney for our work.”

Euromoney, founded in 1969, is a recognized leader in business and financial news and commentary. Every month 63,000 financial industry professionals read Euromoney, including top executives, regulators and officials in more than 100 countries. Euromoney’s anual Awards for Excellence are a banking industry benchmark. The award winners are selected by the Euromoney editors according to objective measures, including profitability, growth and efficiency, as well as subjective criteria.

Santander launches contactless wristband in collaboration with MasterCard

Madrid, 29 June 2016. Banco Santander has today announced the launch of its MasterCard contactless wristband that can be used for purchases at any contactless payment terminal. The wristband is now available to all Banco Santander customers and allows them to pay at most establishments in Spain which accept contactless payment. Santander and MasterCard have joined forces to promote this payment technology and offer customers an easier, quicker and more secure shopping experience.

The Santander prepaid wristband is available in red, grey or black, and the 1|2|3 Mini prepaid wristband, recommended for children aged over 10, is available in red. Both can be loaded with up to 900 euros and for purchases under 20 euros there is no need to enter your PIN. With the MasterCard contactless wristbands users can enjoy ease of payment and greater security while controlling their spending. They are also water-resistant.

The new wristbands can be acquired and charged at any Banco Santander branch while additional top-ups can be made at any of the Bank's ATMs, by phone or online. Customers can also manage the Santander prepaid wristband via the Bank's mobile app. They can top it up, check their balance, consult their PIN and block the wristband if lost.

Santander launched its 1|2|3 Account in May 2015 as part of its strategy to spearhead a new way of banking. The prepaid wristband is yet another product in the wide range of benefits which these account holders can enjoy. It was introduced with the aim of increasing the number of loyal customers, focusing on improving customer satisfaction and winning their trust through a simpler product that is adapted to the needs of each customer. The 1|2|3 Mini Account for children and teens was launched in April and allows parents and guardians to teach children about financial education.

Carlos Palacios, Head of Product Development at Santander Spain, said “In recent months we've made progress with the launch of mobile payments with our Wallet (Santander Wallet). We're committed to offering our customers innovation every single day. This prepaid wristband is a step further in this commitment, and makes paying for purchases as simple as turning your wrist.”

Ovidio Egido, Managing Director of MasterCard Spain noted “We're immersed in an innovative environment where electronic payment methods are already more popular than cards. We can now pay with our smartphones or other devices. As the world's leading tech company, we think differently. We're designing cutting-edge products and are innovating faster than ever before, along with the industry's other leading players. The Santander prepaid wristband allows us to come together in our objective to ensure secure payments using virtually any device, accessory or wearable, to offer consumers the best experience possible”.

About MasterCard

MasterCard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry. It operates the world's fastest payment processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, travelling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone.

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MONEYCONF MADRID 2016. Santander InnoVentures announces investment in digital identity verification firm Socure

London/Madrid – June 22^nd2016 Today at MoneyConf in Madrid, Santander InnoVentures, the fintech venture capital fund of Santander Group, announced its strategic investment in Socure – an industry leader focused on real-time digital identity verification solutions.

Socure, headquartered in New York, utilises trusted data from the digital footprint of consumers, including social media, to accurately and efficiently confirm the identity of consumers in real-time. Socure is primarily used within financial institutions for activities such as the opening of new bank accounts or the issuing of credit/debit cards. The technology has further applications across fraud prevention and compliance, ensuring firms meet requirements of directives such as anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. Current Socure customers and partners include Kabbage and StashInvest, and partners Feedzai.

Mariano Belinky, Managing Partner at Santander InnoVentures, said: “Identity verification is a crucial step in any banking process and is an issue challenging many consumer-facing businesses – there’s a huge opportunity for innovation in this space, in line with the evolution of digital identity and the issues around it, and we believe Socure are at the forefront of it.”

Belinky continued: “Socure also has enormous potential for tackling the issue of financial inclusion in emerging markets, where citizens may be excluded from the banking system simply because they lack traditional credit records used for identity verification. In this situation, the Socure ID+ technology goes beyond conventional identity verification methods, opening new possibilities in untapped markets and segments. More broadly, Socure offers us the opportunity to better understand our customers, and better predict their needs.”

Sunil Madhu, Founder and CEO of Socure said: “With this latest funding announcement, we’re extremely excited to continue our work in tackling the issues associated with identity fraud, while continuing to improve access to the financial system for the un-banked and under-banked, whether in established economies or emerging markets. With the track record and the global capability of Grupo Santander behind them, we felt Mariano and the team were a perfect fit as a VC partner that can help us grow globally.”

Meanwhile, the senior executive vice president of Strategy at Grupo Santander, Víctor Matarranz, explained today that the bank is accelerating its digital transformation through partnerships with technology companies that are global pioneers in several financial solutions that contribute to the progress of people and companies, and make their lives easier.

Matarranz, who participated today in the MoneyConf financial technology conference held in Madrid, highlighted the advantages of combining the agility and disruptive mentality of fintech companies with the international reach of banks such as Santander, which has more than 120 million customers in Europe and America, a robust infrastructure, guaranteed deposits and extensive experience in risk and regulation. "We believe the flexibility of fintech companies, and experience and soundness of banks such as Santander form the perfect partnership, good for startups and good for banks like Santander, as it helps us accelerate our digital transformation," said Matarranz in his keynote at MoneyConf, sponsored by Banco Santander.

This latest investment is Santander InnoVentures’ ninth since its creation in 2014 – other recent investments include digital wealth advisory platform SigFig, and blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic. For more information on previous Santander InnoVentures investments, and the strategic investment philosophy behind the fund, please visit http://santanderinnoventures.com

About Santander InnoVentures:

Santander InnoVentures is a FinTech venture capital fund fully-owned by Grupo Santander. The fund is stage-agnostic and invests both capital and resources in companies globally. It focuses on start-ups that can increase the value proposition to Santander Customers across the Group’s 10 major geographies, while creating value for the companies it invests in. The Fintech 2.0 Paper is a call to action for both banks and fintechs to consider the multi-billion dollar opportunities available through partnership. Download it here.

Banco Santander is a leading retail and commercial bank, based in Spain, with a meaningful market share in 10 core countries in Europe and the Americas. Santander is the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization and among the top banks on a global basis.

Founded in 1857, Santander had EUR 1.51 trillion in managed funds, 13,000 branches and 194,000 employees at the close of 2015. In 2015, Santander made attributable profit of EUR 5,966 million, a 3% increase with respect to the previous year.

Socure (www.socure.com) is the leader in digital identity verification. Its technology applies machine-learning techniques with biometrics and trusted online/offline data intelligence from email, phone, IP, social media and the broader Internet to power next-generation multi-factor authentication in real-time. Socure bolsters CIP/KYC programs and AML/OFAC compliance for enterprises conducting business in over 180 countries, helping them to combat identity fraud, prevent account takeover, and increase consumer acceptance. Socure was founded in 2012 and is based in New York City.

Ana Botín: “Society wants us to come to agreements so that, through education, we can build a better and fairer future for everyone”.

Cordoba, 19 May 2016. At Universia's XVI General Shareholders' Meeting held yesterday at Cordoba University, the Chairman of Universia and Banco Santander, Ana Botín, highlighted the need for an education system that is based on "equal opportunities, diversity, renewed governance, flexibility and digitisation" to tap into Spain's huge potential. The Meeting provided a forum for reviewing some of the Universia network's main achievements and advances, and for looking towards the future.

Ms Botín pointed out the strides made in the Spanish university system over the past 20 years; Spain ranks 10th in the world by scientific output, eighth by publications in scientific journals and the top destination for Erasmus students, with nearly 40,000 students a year. ““You should be proud”, she said, “but there is still a lot to do” to seize the opportunities afforded by globalisation and digitisation and to deal with the challenges, such as reducing unemployment. The answer to these and other challenges lies in “trusting and investing in Spaniards, their education and their ongoing training."

“In countries that are successfully moving to a knowledge-based economy and society, the university system is a key priority", said Botín, who also recognised the efforts of the universities attending the Meeting, which have already embraced “the huge challenges posed by the global and digital era”. She invited participants to “reflect on the challenges faced by universities in a society that must be increasingly more dynamic, competitive, responsible and fair.”

She believes an education system that prepares young people for the future and teaches them for the jobs that become available is essential. This requires “talent-focused strategy that ensures the development of everyone's potential, quality training that is accessible to everyone and attracts the best, with classes in the two main international languages: Spanish and English”. And “this strategy must derive from the full integration of technology”, opening up a major opportunity for innovation in both classroom and on-line education and in research.

This comes on top of the new governance needed for universities, with a more flexible framework, transparent management and new organisational, governing and financing structures that reflect the principles of equality and sufficiency and consider the diversification of revenue sources. In summary, "society wants us to come to agreements and achieve broad support so that, through education, we can build a better and fairer future for everyone.”

Ms. Botín explained that such an important transformation needs to be measured and monitored, and that this need has given rise to university rankings. In her opinion, these lend transparency, and help students to take decisions and to identify best practices and future actions. A case in point is the Fundación CyD university ranking, designed to promote the contribution of universities to economic and social development.

Universities and Santander, partners for the progress of society

She stated that “at Santander, we remain committed to cooperating with universities, as the best way to achieve our mission: to help people, business and society as a whole to prosper”.

Underscoring the Bank's commitment with universities in 2015, among others, were the 35,314 grants awarded, of which 3,700 were international academic visits to Spanish universities and 4,100 for Latin Americans to come to Spain. Other programmes, such as Santander SME work experience grants, benefitted some 22,500 students, of which 40% ended up being hired by the company. In its current edition (the 2015/2016 year), this programme has received 50,146 applications from students and 9,538 from SMEs interested in participating.

She added that the Bank will continue to promote entrepreneurship through initiatives such as YUZZ, which in 2015 helped 900 youths from 46 centres in which 38 universities took part, because “investing in an entrepreneurial culture means helping people”.

Attending the meeting were all Universia members in Spain (79 universities), including José Carlos Gómez, rector of the University of Cordoba, who hosted the event, Segundo Píriz, president of the Spanish Rectors' Conference (Crue Universidades Españolas) and rector of the University of Extremadura, alongside leading figures, such as Marco Antonio Zago, president of the University of Sao Paolo, Alberto Barberi, rector of the University of Buenos Aires, Jaume Pagès, CEO of Universia, Rodrigo Echenique, vice-chairman of Banco Santander and chairman of Santander Spain, Rami Aboukhair, country head de Santander Spain, José Antonio Villasante, executive vice president of Banco Santander and head of Santander Universities, and various representatives from the corporate and political scene.

The rector of Cordoba University, José Carlos Gómez, stressed that “the support of Banco Santander for the University is support for the higher education system, for knowledge, transformation and social development through the values the University embodies”.

In his speech, the chairman of the Spanish Universities Rectors Conference and rector of Extremadura University stated: “universities are working on a daily basis to improve education and the quality of life in our countries and in this mission, the role played by Banco Santander and Universia key”.

Universia an international benchmark in university relations and youth employment, has been sponsored by Santander from its beginning through Santander Universities. Santander Universities. It currently has 1,401 partner universities representing 19.2 million students. The network of universities and its partners for employment and digital services ended 2015 with an average of 13.8 million unique users per month and 1.3 million followers on social networks.

Santander Spain increases its offer of mixed funds with two new product ranges: Santander Evolución and Santander Generación

Madrid, 6 June 2016. Santander Spain is increasing its offer of investment funds with the launch of the Value Funds strategy for customers that will include two new ranges of mixed funds from 13 June: Santander Evolución and Santander Generación. This strategy increases the Bank's current offer of risk-profiled, mixed and equity funds, risk-profiled portfolios and discretionary management portfolios. It will also give customers access to other investment solutions with different risk levels in order to obtain higher returns in the current economic context of historically low interest rates.

Both Santander Evolución and Santander Generación have the advantages of the World 1|2|3 strategy, as investment in these products involves receiving shares in the Bank.

Santander Evolución

The Santander Evolución product range is the first of its kind in Spain. It comprises three mixed funds that progressively increase exposure to equities, smoothing out market fluctuations. For this systematic investment plan, the three products have two distinct management phases. The first is the accumulation phase, during which the funds start to build a portfolio with a preset portion of investment in equities that is increased gradually every two months to reach habitual exposure levels after 20 months. The second phase is the active management phase, for both fixed income and equities, using a reduced range of +/- 10% for equities.

The Evolución funds and their corresponding percentage increases in equities are as follows:

• Santander Evolución 20 increases investment in equities by 2% every two months, to reach a ratio of 20% equities/80% fixed income
• Santander Evolución 40 increases investment in equities by 4% every two months, to reach a ratio of 40% equities/60% fixed income
• Santander Evolución 60 increases investment in equities by 6% every two months, to reach a ratio of 60% equities/40% fixed income

To start with, these funds will have lower management fees during the accumulation phase, which will remain stable once the defined exposure to equities has been reached.

Santander Generación

The Santander Generación range comprises three mixed funds with different exposures to equities that seek to generate returns via dividends, coupons and derivative-based investment strategies, with a specialist manager in charge of each group of portfolio assets. The offers includes:

• Santander Generación 1: 85% investment in fixed income and 15% in equities
• Santander Generación 2: 70% investment in fixed income and 30% in equities
• Santander Generación 3: 40% investment in fixed income and 60% in equities

Each of these funds has three classes of units: class A, class B (both in the accumulation phase) and class R (distribution). Class R (disaccumulation) adds value to the funds as it enables investors to receive unit returns on a quarterly basis. These will differ according to the fund, as higher risk funds offer higher returns.

Santander Asset Management is leader in attracting assets in Spain so far this year, with a net inflow of 756 million euros. It is also one of the asset management companies that have most successfully weathered the market storm last November, thanks to its rapid adjustment to this volatile environment and ability to tailor its product range to customer needs.

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