- Santander appoints Petri Nikkilä as the new CEO of Openbank, effective from May.
- Nikkilä to lead Openbank’s current markets and promote international expansion.
- Openbank, established in Spain in 1995, expanded to Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, and Argentina in 2019.
- Nikkilä also heads the non-auto consumer business and buy now, pay later (BNPL) for the Digital Consumer Bank unit.
- Digital Consumer Bank unit was formed in 2020 by merging Santander Consumer Finance and Openbank.
- Reporting to Daniel Barriuso and José Luis de Mora, Nikkilä succeeds Ezequiel Szafir as Openbank’s CEO.
- Nikkilä to join SCF and Openbank boards, pending regulatory approval.
- Nikkilä brings extensive experience from ING, Nordea, HSBC, and Unilever; Ana Botín praises his deep knowledge and strategic vision in the consumer sector.
- Ana Botín emphasizes the central role of Openbank’s technology in Santander’s transformation.
