Branching out

8 April 2016 By Fiona Maharg-Bravo

Santander is closing 450 outlets and laying off staff. Low interest rates and shrinking loans put strain on an overbanked Spain. Since consolidation is unlikely amid political stasis, other banks will have to follow Santander and wield the shears themselves.

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Spanish bank Santander plans to close around 450 small domestic branches and lay off up to 5 percent of Spanish staff in response to rising regulatory costs and a push into digital services, according to an internal memo and Spanish press reports.

Nearly three-quarters of those branches have between one and three workers, according to the memo, which did not detail the number of jobs at risk. On April 6, a union said Santander plans to cut 1,200 jobs. Santander will upgrade around 350 larger offices this year, fitting them with more modern cash machines.

CaixaBank, another Spanish lender, said it did not plan to close any of its 5,000 branches in Spain.

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