What technology stack does Santander run in the United States?
Santander's US stack is the group's: Openbank, launched nationally on October 21, 2024, is the first place Santander combined its in-house cloud core, Gravity, with its customer interface, ODS, and it held more than $10 billion of US deposits by October 2026. Gravity is software built in-house that lets the bank run workloads on the mainframe and in the cloud in parallel; Santander says it has moved more than 90% of its IT to the cloud, became the first major Western bank to run 100% in the cloud in Spain in June 2025, runs CIB on Gravity in Google Cloud, and had Gravity ready for Brazil in 2026, with its customer interaction platform live in five markets. US auto lending runs machine-learning credit models on FICO Platform and the Drive dealer platform with AutoFi. The Webster acquisition, closed August 20, 2026, adds a second stack: CEO Christiana Riley plans a core conversion by the end of 2027 and expects $800 million of savings, mainly from merging technology platforms and back-office roles. The US technology bench is COO Luis Massiani, CTO Vikram Nafde and four line-of-business CIOs. AI tooling is group-supplied; the US has not named a cloud provider or AI platform of its own.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
Data as of Oct 16, 2026 · Santander profile updated Oct 13, 2026 · 22 sources cited on this page · 140 banks profiled on this site · Markdown
Which platforms make up Santander's US technology stack?
US-specific rows are marked; the rest are group platforms the US business uses or will use.
| Layer | Platform | What it does | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core banking (group) | Gravity | In-house cloud-native core and migration software; runs mainframe and cloud workloads in parallel for real-time testing; deploys on private and public clouds | More than 90% of group IT in the cloud (July 2025)[4][6] |
| Customer interface (group) | ODS | Santander's customer interface, combined with Gravity for the first time in the US under Openbank | Live in the US[2] |
| Digital bank (US) | Openbank | High-yield savings opened in as little as five minutes on Santander's proprietary cloud platform; CDs and daily-use transaction products announced to follow | More than $10 billion of deposits (October 2026)[1][12][3] |
| Customer interaction platform (group) | Not named | Retail customer-interaction platform under ONE Transformation | Live in five markets after Mexico (Q1 2026); ready for Spain (Q2 2026)[7][13] |
| Auto credit (US) | FICO Platform | Machine-learning approve/decline, adverse-action reasons and probability-of-default models | In production[8] |
| Auto retail (US) | Drive and Drive Together (with AutoFi) | Soft-pull pre-qualification on dealer websites | Launched July 8, 2025[9] |
| Commercial (US) | Navigator Global (with Dentsu) | Market-entry platform for US businesses expanding abroad, covering 30-plus markets | Launched November 2025[14] |
| Webster (US) | Webster's systems, pending conversion | No system or brand changes for 12 months after close; core conversion by end-2027 | Closed August 20, 2026[10] |
How far has Santander's cloud migration gone?
| Milestone | What it says | Date |
|---|---|---|
| CIB on Google Cloud | Santander CIB migrated to Gravity in Google Cloud: more than a million accounting and half a million treasury operations a day | December 11, 2023[6] |
| Spain fully on Gravity | First major established bank in the Western world to operate 100% in the cloud; with Brazil and Mexico to follow, the group will have about 80% of its core infrastructure in the cloud | June 19, 2025[5] |
| Engineering scale | 24,000 tech staff on Gravity (July 2025); nearly 30,000 software developers and engineers (June 2025) | 2025[4][5] |
| AI in software development | More than 17,000 people using agentic AI in software development in May 2026; 40% of code developed by AI in June | June 22, 2026[15] |
| Data & AI operating model | Created in 2025; more than 4,500 employees rolling out AI across the organization | June 9, 2026[16] |
| US third-party reliance | Santander Holdings USA relies on providers of cloud infrastructure, data services and cybersecurity for critical systems | March 2, 2026[17] |
Who runs technology at Santander US?
After the Webster close, COO Luis Massiani oversees the joint Technology & Operations function, Vikram Nafde (from Webster) is CTO for shared services, infrastructure and architecture, and Ignacio Sarquis, Bobby Mehra, Xavier Courtois and Jose Oliveros are CIOs for retail, commercial and digital, auto, CIB and wealth; Alberto Hernandez is CISO. Massiani has a functional line to Group Chief Operating & Technology Officer Juan Olaizola.[11]
Dan Griffiths, Santander US's group CIO, left to become USAA's CIO in February 2026, and Drew Burchard runs digital banking for the combined bank.[18][19]
What does the Santander profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the Santander AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 13, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 34 dated moves, 15 use cases and 47 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Machine-learning auto credit risk on FICO Platform | Approve/decline decisions, adverse-action reasons and probability-of-default for pricing in the US auto business, with faster model development and governance. | In production | [8] |
| Openbank digital banking | The digital bank that gathered $6 billion of US deposits in its first year. | In production | [19][20] |
| Openbank AI models for AML alert investigation (group) | About 100,000 anti-money-laundering alerts a year processed, with investigations cut from hours to minutes; the group does not say how much runs on the US platform. | In production | [15] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 20, 2026 | Riley: core conversion by end of 2027, $800 million of savings | No system or brand changes for 12 months; savings come mainly from merging technology platforms and back-office roles; the combined workforce is about 14,000. | [10] |
| Jul 31, 2026 | Q2 10-Q filed, again with no AI language | Santander Holdings USA's second-quarter 2026 10-Q describes the Webster merger and SBNA's Openbank platform but has no AI discussion. | [21] |
| Apr 29, 2026 | Technology bench for the combined bank | US COO Luis Massiani to oversee joint Technology & Operations, Vikram Nafde as CTO and Ignacio Sarquis as retail, commercial and digital CIO; the T&O head is to leave. | [11] |
| Oct 29, 2025 | US profit up 64% on Openbank funding and fees | Third-quarter results attribute the gain to lower funding costs from the digital lender. | [20] |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Openbank US passes $6 billion in deposits | First-anniversary release: CDs and daily-use transaction products to follow; biometric security on the platform. | [12] |
| May 7, 2025 | FICO award for machine-learning credit risk | The US auto business wins a 2025 FICO Decisions Award for AI, Machine Learning & Optimization for rebuilding credit-risk modelling on FICO Platform. | [8] |
| Oct 21, 2024 | Openbank launches in the United States | A high-yield savings account opened in as little as five minutes through the app or openbank.us, on the proprietary cloud platform Santander is rolling out across its consumer businesses. | [1] |
| Apr 9, 2024 | Santander announces Openbank for the US | A national digital offering planned for the second half of 2024, built on Santander's in-house technology platform to gather deposits that fund auto lending. | [22] |
What core banking platform does Santander use in the US?
Openbank in the US runs on Gravity, Santander's in-house cloud-native core banking platform, combined with its ODS customer interface; the US was the first country where the group put the two together. Webster's customers stay on Webster's systems until a core conversion planned for the end of 2027.
What is Santander's Gravity platform?
Gravity is software Santander built in-house to move core banking from the mainframe to the cloud, running both in parallel so the bank can test in real time without disrupting service. Santander says more than 90% of its IT is in the cloud, Spain moved fully onto Gravity in June 2025, and Santander CIB runs it in Google Cloud.
When will Santander convert Webster's systems?
US CEO Christiana Riley said at the August 20, 2026 close that there would be no system or brand changes for 12 months and that the core conversion would come by the end of 2027. She expects $800 million of cost savings by the end of 2028, mainly from merging technology platforms and back-office roles.
Which technology vendors does Santander US name?
FICO, whose platform runs machine-learning credit-risk models in US auto; AutoFi, behind the Drive dealer tools; Dentsu, which built Navigator Global; and Verizon as a distribution partner for Openbank. Group-level providers include Google Cloud for CIB, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google for AI tools.
Who is Santander US's chief technology officer?
Vikram Nafde, formerly of Webster, is CTO of Santander US for technology shared services, infrastructure and architecture, under COO Luis Massiani, who oversees the joint Technology & Operations function after the Webster acquisition.
- Santander launches Openbank in the US, expanding its consumer banking business nationwide
- Santander launches Openbank in the US, a significant milestone in its transformation (undated special page, retrieved 2026-10-16)
- The Most Powerful Women in Banking Women to Watch, #1, Christiana Riley, Santander U.S.
- 7 questions on how Gravity is transforming Santander
- Santander completes the digitalization of its technology infrastructure in Spain with the deployment of Gravity
- Santander passes key milestone in its transformation after migrating its CIB banking platform to the cloud
- 1Q2026 Santander Results: Santander adds eight million customers, with revenue up 4%, costs down 3% and underlying EPS increasing 17%
- Santander US Auto Business Wins 2025 FICO Decisions Award for Machine Learning Credit Risk Analysis
- Santander Consumer Launches Drive Together, Offering Dealers Pre-Qualified Leads from Web Traffic
- Santander isn't rushing into Webster integration: US CEO
- Webster Acquisition Update: Corporate Function Leadership Appointments (Form 425)
- Santander's Openbank Celebrates First Year in the United States with More Than $6 Billion in Deposits
- 2Q 2026 financial results: Santander adds 12 million customers as underlying profit rises 15% to €7.3 billion in the first half
- Santander Bank Launches Navigator Global to Empower U.S. Businesses Expanding Internationally
- Santander turns its AI-first strategy into measurable impact and extends AI access to all 185,000 employees
- AI at Santander: From learning to practical use
- Santander Holdings USA, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2025
- USAA hires Santander tech chief as next CIO
- Santander, Webster lay out post-deal management plan
- Santander beats third quarter forecasts on US growth
- Santander Holdings USA, Inc. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended 30 June 2026
- Santander to introduce Openbank in US
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