Openbank Partners with Verizon to Expand Digital Banking in the U.S.
Hey Digital Banking Fanatic!
Branch closures, digital expansion, and strategic partnerships—Santander Bank’s latest moves reflect the broader shift in global banking. This week, the lender announced plans to shut 21% of its UK branches, in line with an industry-wide trend that has accelerated since 2008.
At the same time, the bank’s digital ambitions continue to grow. In a Bloomberg TV interview, Chairman Ana Botín highlighted Santander’s focus on the Americas: “We see a lot of potential over the next few years in Europe. But our focus will continue to be more on the Americas.”
She also pointed to the expansion of Openbank, Santander’s digital banking arm, which recently launched in the U.S. and has already onboarded close to 100k customers. The plan is to transition existing U.S. retail clients to Openbank’s platform.
Now, Openbank is taking another step forward with a new partnership. It has announced a multi-year collaboration with Verizon to introduce Verizon + Openbank Savings, a high-yield savings account designed for Verizon mobile and 5G Home customers. The account offers interest rates 10x the national average, with the added benefit of up to $180 in annual savings on Verizon bills.
“Verizon has long been committed to delivering value and savings beyond wireless services,” said Hans Vestberg, Chairman & CEO of Verizon. “Our scale enables the creation of exclusive financial services solutions and savings accessible only to Verizon customers.”
Santander sees this partnership as a key milestone in scaling its U.S. business. “The Verizon partnership is a significant milestone for Santander as we scale our U.S. business further by bringing Openbank’s secure and simple banking experience and compelling rewards to Verizon’s customers nationwide. This is an important step in our growth strategy, and I am excited for what’s ahead.”
Verizon’s entry into financial services is not new. In June 2020, it introduced a Visa credit card in collaboration with Synchrony, followed by a 2021 partnership with Mastercard to enhance Tap on Phone softPOS capabilities.
For Openbank, the Verizon partnership opens a new door in its U.S. expansion, following a late 2024 launch that quickly attracted over $3B in deposits. With new products like certificates of deposit (CDs) and checking accounts set for 2025, there’ll be more to tell in the chapters ahead.
Scroll down for more interesting Digital Banking industry news updates and I'll be back in your inbox tomorrow!
Cheers,
Stay Updated on the Go! Join my new Telegram channel for daily Digital Banking updates and real-time breaking news. Stay informed and explore the Future of Banking—subscribe now!
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇺🇸 Verizon & Santander Bank partner to bring Openbank’s digital banking experience. The partnership brings together industry leaders in mobility and banking to provide a secure, seamless digital banking experience to Verizon customers with no fees, low minimum deposits, and 24/7 access to funds.
🇿🇦 Tyme Bank hit 10.7 million customers in December 2024, a 7% increase in 3 months. The digital bank, which became Africa’s ninth unicorn with a $250 million Series D funding round in December that valued it at $1.5 billion recorded a 10 million customer base in October 2024.
🇬🇧 Revolut is launching an Employer of Record (EoR) service called 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗲 in H2 2025. GlobalHire will enable employers to hire hassle-free from 160 countries with zero borders. Revolut will handle local compliance, tax, and regulations, similar to companies like Deel.
🇺🇸 FinTechs and crypto companies seek bank charters for growth. They are seeking to become state or national banks to expand their business under the Trump administration which they view as more industry-friendly, according to more than half a dozen industry executives.
🇬🇧 Finastra unveils enhanced Lending Cloud Service supported by IBM. IBM is providing design and implementation for LCS, leveraging its generative AI for enterprise platform, watsonx, as part of operationally focused IBM Consulting assets, to more efficiently and resiliently manage the new platform.
🇦🇺 Bud Financial uses DataStax AI and NVIDIA to drive real-time financial insights for ANZ. By integrating NVIDIA Triton Inference Server and DCGM Exporter, Bud has supercharged its real-time financial data classification and enrichment service, significantly lowering latency and costs compared to CPU-based solutions.
🇨🇿 Czech FinTech Flowpay scores €30M to shake up SME lending in Europe. The fresh funding will support Flowpay’s mission to provide working capital financing to SMEs across Europe, and strengthen its position in the embedded lending sector. Further, Flowpay aims to scale beyond its current markets.
Want your message in front of 100.000+ Digital Banking fanatics, founders, investors, and operators?
Shoot me a message on LinkedIn or send me an e-mail.
