Banco Santander, the world’s ninth-largest financial services company by revenue, announced the appointment of two leadership positions in payments, and user experience and new ventures. Aiming to further accelerate its digital transformation across its 10 core markets, Santander Digital brought both talented executives, Chirag Patel and Jose Resendiz, from leading US technology companies.Chirag Patel, new Head of Payments at Santander Digital, is joining the bank from Amazon, where he was head of Emerging Payments & Innovation, based in Seattle. Prior executive roles include positions at American Express and Softcard, a startup acquired by Google. Patel will be responsible for evolving the payments business with innovative customer experiences and partnerships, in light of the rapidly-changing payments landscape. Chirag Patel will be based in London.
Jose Resendiz, the new Head of User Experience and New Ventures, joins Santander from NCR Corporation, where he was head of Global Financial Services Solutions. Resendiz was previously Chief Innovation Officer and General Manager for the Digital Insight digital banking business serving over 15 million digital banking users. Prior executive roles include product management at Silicon Valley-based fintech giant Intuit.
As Head of User Experience, Resendiz will be responsible for raising the bar on simple, elegant user experiences, in line with rising customer expectations. He is also going to lead the New Ventures unit of Santander, which is tasked with creating new businesses to accelerate future growth. Jose Resendiz will be based in San Francisco.
Both Patel and Resendiz will be reporting to Lindsey Argalas, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer and head of Santander Digital: “Across Santander, we are using technology to improve the experience we offer our 133 million customers. Our goal is to deliver services and experiences that benefit our customers and exceed their expectations. Attracting the best talent is critical to our success. I am delighted to announce the appointments of Chirag and Jose, as they will both play an important role in helping us achieve our bold ambitions”, said Argalas.
‘3 clicks and 40 secs’ is a motto that Santander has put into practice by partnering with Ripple in order to disrupt its international payments framework. Launched in Q1 2018, the distributed ledger technology is being used in mobile international payments for personal customers.The app is available in Spain, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Poland. EUR payments are compatible with up to 21 countries whereas USD payments can be sent to the United States.
