• The Fortune ‘Change the World’ list recognizes both large and small companies worldwide that are “making an important social or environmental impact through their strategy and operations”.
• Santander has been included in the list because of its support for financial inclusion for the second year running. In 2023 alone the bank helped 1.8 million people gain access to basic financial services or provided financial support through microloans and other initiatives.

Santander has been recognised as one of almost 50 companies making a positive impact on the world after being included in Fortune Magazine’s ‘Change the World’ list for the second year in a row. The list recognizes both large and small companies worldwide that are helping address some of society’s biggest challenges through their business and operations.

Santander has been included in 2024 thanks to its support for financial inclusion and empowerment. In 2023 alone, Santander helped 1.8 million unbanked or underbanked people gain or retain access to basic financial services, provided €1.2 billion in microloans to over a million underbanked entrepreneurs, and reached 11.5 million people with financial education initiatives mainly to the most vulnerable population – children, young people, the elderly or groups at risk of exclusion – through in-person and online training.

The bank operates financial inclusion programmes across all its core markets. For example, Santander Prospera is the largest microfinance program offered by a private bank in Brazil, bringing solutions to entrepreneurs in communities in development stage that go beyond the granting of resources and offers financial guidance and complementary services. In more than two decades of existence, the initiative has granted over 3.6 billion euros in credit, to a total of 2.4 million customers. It also contributes to reducing the underrepresentation of women in the formal financial system, with 66% of the total portfolio. Regarding access initiatives, in Spain, for example, the bank has been working with Correos since 2021 to establish basic financial services in more than 2,300 rural post offices to facilitate financial access to sparsely populated areas.

In 2019 Santander set a target to financially empower 10 million people between 2019 and 2025. This target was exceeded in 2022, with the bank’s programmes reaching 11.8 million. The bank has now set a new target to financially include a further 5 million people between 2023 and 2025, focusing on unbanked, underbanked and financially vulnerable individuals.

Santander was the highest ranked bank in the 2023 change the world list thanks to its support for education, employability and entrepreneurship. As well as supporting financial inclusion, the bank operates one of the largest privately-sponsored education initiatives in the world.