The digital banking platform offers free services such as a digital password databank and a dashboard to keep track of payment methods
Openbank (Online Bank) location in Barcelona. (Credit: Lofor/Wikipedia.)
Spanish financial services company Santander announced that its fully digital bank Openbank has started operations in Argentina, marking its entry into the Americas.
Openbank is now providing access to all the features and products in the new market, after testing its new platform in certain customers, for several months.
According to the Spanish bank, Argentina is the fifth country for Openbank to start operations in, following Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands and Spain.
The digital bank has more than 1.7 million customers across the globe and has increased its customer base outside Spain by 83%, last year.
Openbank CEO Ezequiel Szafir said: “Arriving in Argentina marks a new milestone in our expansion into a new region. The challenge will enable Openbank to grow profitably and sustainably while diversifying its business geographically.
“We will do so thanks to a fully digital banking model that utilizes big data and artificial intelligence to make every customer’s experience better and more personal.”
In Argentina, Openbank would start with products and services related to savings and salary accounts and debit cards, to make daily transactions quick, easy and secure for customers.
Also, the digital bank will provide customers with access to Debin, an instant money transfer system, similar to the smartphone-based money transfer tool Bizum.
Openbank customers are allowed to sign up for any account or product through the bank’s mobile app, website or call centre, in a completely digital process.
In addition to the services on its website and mobile app, Openbank also provides features such as password manager databank, card control and device management, free of cost.
The platform can store an unlimited number of passwords, for email, paid TV streaming platforms, blogs, sporting apps and e-commerce, with superior privacy and security.
According to Santander, Openbank is the world’s first bank to provide its customers with a password and data manager for completely free of charge.
The digital bank also provides a dashboard on its website and app, which allows users to activate or deactivate payment instruments while buying things online or in stores.
The dashboard comes with an option for managing the devices for Openbank account access and viewing the terminals connected to the bank in the last 30 days.
Openbank Argentina CEO Federico Procaccini said: “We’ve put a lot of time, energy and effort into this project, and we expect to give our customers a world-class experience on our digital banking platform to which we’ll continue to add products and features in the months to come.”