Banco Santander, world leader in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index

Banco Santander has once again been included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI), a benchmark in the international sphere that assesses the policies and initiatives of companies in the advancement of diversity among employees, customers and society.

With an evaluation of 93.4 points out of 100, Banco Santander takes first place in this index made up of 104 participating entities from different sectors (financial, communications, energy, basic goods, materials, technology, etc.)

Banco Santander understands gender diversity as an enriching element of human capital, which allows promoting an inclusive and diverse environment to achieve better solutions and offer a higher added value to the main stakeholders (employees, customers, shareholders and community).

The Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index has very positively evaluated aspects such as gender diversity, in both the board of directors and in the personnel of the Bank, the commercialisation of products and services for women, and the development of financially inclusive programmes and activities.

In 2016 the Bank increased the number of women in managerial positions by 9% in comparison to the year before, moving from 33% to 35%, and it increased the percentage of women on the board of directors, both in the Group and in local business units.

The microcredit programme also stands out, which boosts the growth of small businesses that do not have access to formal funding, through in 2016 which Santander supported more than 250,000 micro-entrepreneurs in Latin America, of which 70% were women.

The main mission of Banco Santander is to help people and businesses prosper in a responsible and sustainable manner. The Bank undertakes numerous community support programmes, with specific commitment to higher education as the main focus of its social investment.