Santander Re-Brands Its Retail Network in Poland
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Santander re-brands its retail network in Poland • Over the weekend the entire retail network of Bank Zachodni WBK and its banking and customer service channels and partner outlets, including its webpage and ATMs, changed to the Santander brand. Madrid, 12th September 2018 – PRESS RELEASE Santander re-brands to its Polish affiliate. Over the past weekend, the branch network of Bank Zachodni WBK, as well as its customer service and banking channels and its web page and ATMs, changed to the Santander brand. The Polish affiliate of Santander is the third bank in Poland, with a market share of approximately 12%. The new brand projects a modern image of innovation and strength, while maintaining the bank’s local character and roots. The bank will maintain its current strategy in Poland with the aim to help people and businesses prosper and to be the best bank in Poland. The Executive Chairman of Banco Santander, Ana Botín, said, “The Santander name has been recognized as a symbol of trust and credibility for over 160 years. Today the brand is known to millions of people across Europe and the Americas, and represents the ‘simple, personal and fair’ values that lie at the heart of everything we do. Poland is one of our core markets, and is a country with incredible talent and potential. We are extremely proud to serve 6.5 million customers here. The decision to introduce the Santander brand in Poland demonstrates how important the business is to the group, and reflects our commitment to helping people and businesses in Poland prosper”. According to Gerry Byrne, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Santander Bank Polska, “We are proud of all the successes we have achieved as Bank Zachodni WBK, and now with our new image we are going to strengthen our competitive position in the market. The Santander brand reflects values such as stability and tradition, but also smoothly corresponds with the digital reality we all live in. I am convinced, that the combination of these attributes makes Santander Bank Polska the bank customers want”. In 2013, the retail network of Bank Zachodni WBK incorporated the Santander Group as part of its brand and started offering Santander products and services to its corporate and private banking clients so they would become familiarized with the brand. Santander Bank Polska leads the digital transformation of the banking sector in Poland. It is part of the Santander One Pay FX project, the service that makes international transfers fast and agile using blockchain-based technology that Santander launched last April in four of its main markets. Banco Santander bought BZ WBK from Allied Irish Bank in 2011 and subsequently bought the Polish business of KBC (2013) and Deutsche Bank (2017), whose 115 branches will convert to the Santander brand before the end of the year once the technological integration is completed. These acquisitions required investment of €4.2 billion for 70% of an entity that now has market capitalization of €8.6 billion. Santander Bank Polska has 11,500 employees and 565 branches that serve 6.5 million customers. External Communication Ciudad Grupo Santander, edificio Arrecife, pl. 2 28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) Tel.: +34 91 2895211 [email protected] www.santander.com - Twitter: @bancosantander .