Santander Chile Plans $800M Investment and Backs Reform

Banco Santander Chile announced an investment of roughly $800 million in Chile over the next three years. CEO Andrés Trautmann presented the plan during the Chile Day event in Madrid on 14 September 2026. The capital will fund the bank's technological transformation, its recently acquired life annuity business, and the construction of Campus Santander, its new corporate headquarters.

Trautmann also voiced strong support for the capital markets reform presented by the Chilean government the previous week. He stated that the initiative will help mobilize savings and investment toward housing access, small and medium-sized enterprise financing, and regulatory modernization for new market entrants.

The executive noted that roughly 45% of Banco Santander Chile's total loan portfolio consists of mortgage loans. He highlighted housing as an area that suffered from the recent weakening of local capital markets. According to Trautmann, an average-income family needed 11.4 years of total earnings to buy a home in 2024, up from more than seven years in 2019. Homeownership in Chile also dropped from 66% in 2010 to 57% in 12 years.

Trautmann recalled that the bank has operated in Chile since 1978 and praised the country's macroeconomic track record and institutional stability. He added that the success of the reform will depend on proper execution, suitable incentives, and consensus building.