NEWS
NEWS
Santander to close 95 of its UK branches
Santander has announced plans to update its branch network from June 2025, which include closing 95 of the bank’ s existing 444 branches.
These locations will be covered by new Santander Community Bankers providing face-to-face money management and general
support for customers, visiting local communities weekly, as well as attending local Banking Hubs.
Approximately 750 colleagues would be placed at risk of redundancy if the proposals proceed after consultation with the unions has been completed.
The bank will be changing the format of a number of branches to include 18 counter-free and 36 reduced hours branches, alongside its 290 full-service branches and five Work Cafés.
The Work Café concept, which Santander is rolling out globally, provides a hub for local communities and businesses, including a co-working space, superfast WiFi and a dedicated event space – which can be accessed for free by customers and non-customers alike.
In addition to the bank’ s Work Cafés, it has invested tens of millions of pounds in a branch investment programme over the last two years, refurbishing 99 branches, with a further 50 branches due to be completed over the coming year.
The bank also continues to enhance its mobile banking app, chat service and telephone banking to support customers.
Launch of corporate venture fund to empower start-ups
Yango Group, a global tech company bringing advanced technology to local communities, has launched Yango Ventures, a corporate venture fund designed to empower promising start-ups across LATAM, Sub-Saharan Africa, MENAP and other high-growth regions of the company’ s presence. Yango Ventures aims to foster local innovation and entrepreneurial growth by providing both capital and leveraging its extensive experience and network, creating opportunities for start-ups to scale effectively. This support is designed to help them generate sustainable impact within their communities.
Yango Ventures focuses on early-stage start-ups, from Seed to Series B, in the O2O( Online-to-Offline), B2B SaaS and FinTech sectors. While it starts with an initial fund of US $ 20 million, the corporate venture fund is designed for scalability, with plans to expand its capital base in the near future alongside the growing entrepreneurial ecosystems in dynamic, high-growth markets. By investing in regions where Yango Group has a strong presence, Yango Ventures seeks to support tech-driven solutions that promote digitalisation and stimulate economic development. �
12 www. intelligentfin. tech