Santander partners with IBM to drive digital transformation as part of a $700mn deal

IBM has forged a five-year partnership with Banco Santander to accelerate the bank’s digital transformation plan.

IBM says the $700mn deal will help Santander Group “evolve towards the open, flexible and modern IT environment it requires” for its business strategy.

The five-year deal will give Santander access to IBM’s technologies in fields such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and big data.

For instance, by using IBM Watson, Santander hopes to use AI capabilities to “improve customer experience, enhance branch advisor expertise and increase employee productivity”.

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IBM will also help Santander in its objective to create the “most advanced IT architecture of the financial sector” by creating a hybrid, multi-cloud environment.

"This agreement will allow us to have a global partner with the best technology to help accelerate the IT transformation,” said David Chaos, Santander Global CIO.

“We think this agreement with IBM represents a great support to our strategy of constant progress, while protecting our investments in technology.

“IBM's technology will provide the bank with the flexibility needed to support the constantly evolving business of a bank.”

David Soto, IBM General Manager for Santander Group, added: "Santander Group is leveraging IBM technologies to support their security and regulatory work, and to rapidly develop new services that meet emerging customer demand by tapping into IBM's unique technology and industry expertise.”