Santander ignores 76% of favourable claims from the Bank of Spain, despite record profits

The Bank of Spain reveals that Santander, the most profitable bank in the eurozone, fails to comply with its recommendations in three out of four cases favourable to the customer. BBVA and CaixaBank rectify to a greater extent.

Banco Santander closed the first half of 2026 with an ordinary profit of 7.328 billion euros, 14.9% more than the previous year. With the capital gains from the sale of its subsidiary in Poland, the figure approached 9 billion, a 31% increase. However, a report from the Bank of Spain reveals that the entity is the least responsive to claims resolved in favour of the customer.

In 2025, the regulator resolved 339 favourable cases against Santander. In 76.1% of those cases, the bank did not rectify its actions, ignoring the supervisor's recommendation. This percentage is double that of BBVA (36.4%) and significantly exceeds that of CaixaBank (41.2%).

The system allows the Bank of Spain to issue favourable reports and gives the entity a month to correct the situation. But with no automatic sanctions or possibility of appeal, most recommendations fall on deaf ears. In more than half of the cases, banks simply ignore them.

In total, financial entities returned 6.8 million euros to their clients in 2025 for accepted claims, 34% more than the previous year. 78% of those refunds occurred before the formal report from the regulator, in direct agreements between the bank and consumer, suggesting that entities prefer to resolve matters privately.

Mortgage loans are the product where rectification is least common: only 62.4% of favourable claims in this area are corrected, compared to 86% for cards or current accounts. Specifically, 67% of favourable mortgage claims were not addressed by the bank, reflecting a structural resistance to changing practices.

For the customer, this means that, although the Bank of Spain rules in their favour, the entity can ignore the resolution without immediate consequences. The judicial route remains the only option to enforce compliance, especially in cases of mortgages where breaches are often irreversible.

The situation contrasts with Santander's financial results. The group's total income reached 30.822 billion euros, driven by interest margin and fees. However, record profitability does not translate into a greater willingness to correct errors with customers.

The report from the Bank of Spain highlights the need to reform the claims system to make it binding. In the meantime, the customer must know that a favourable resolution does not guarantee rectification, and that the judicial route or consumer associations may be the next step.