Funding tailwind meets a credit test
- The bull case is working: net interest margin rose to 3.79% in 2025 from 3.36% in 2024 as funding costs fell.
- Total loans fell 0.9% in 2025, hurt by weaker residential mortgages and a smaller CIB loan book.
- Fees are a real engine, with net fees up 8.9% in 2025 and Getnet fees up 38.8%.
- Credit risk is not gone: non-performing loans reached 3.3% of total loans in 2025.
- The next big swing factors are Chile's jobs market, elections, mortgage demand, and the suspended card fee cap.
Good bank, soft loan demand
Banco Santander-Chile is showing the upside of a falling-rate cycle. Its funding costs moved down faster than many loan yields, so net interest margin improved. Costs also stayed tight, with the efficiency ratio improving to 36.4% in 2025 from 39.2% in 2024.
The fee story is also strong. Net fee and commission income rose 8.9% in 2025. Getnet, the card acquiring business that helps merchants accept card payments, grew fees 38.8%. In January 2026, the bank agreed to sell 49.99% of Getnet Chile to Getnet Payments, S.L., while keeping the operating link with the business.
The bear case has changed shape. Commercial loan non-performing loans improved, but consumer and mortgage credit got worse. The filing ties that stress to a persistently high level of unemployment in Chile. Total non-performing loans, meaning loans with at least one installment more than 90 days late, ticked up to 3.3% of total loans in 2025.
Growth is the open question. Loans fell 0.9% in 2025 because residential mortgages were weak and CIB kept using a generate-to-distribute model, which means it originates some loans and then sells them. A better economy after the Chilean elections could restart loan growth, but the current score should leave room for that not happening.
A digital bank with branches
BSAC makes money like a classic bank. It takes deposits and other funding, lends to people and companies, and earns the spread between what it earns on loans and what it pays for funding. It also earns fees from cards, accounts, mutual funds, merchant acquiring, guarantees, payments, insurance brokerage, and treasury services.
The bank is trying to make that old model cheaper and more digital. Management calls the strategy a digital bank with branches. After the Gravity project, the bank said it was operating 100% on the cloud. That should help client growth, product use, and cost control if the systems keep working well.
Retail banking is the center of gravity. It holds most of the loans and produces most of the fee income. Middle-market and SME clients add lending and payment needs. Corporate Investment Banking is now more selective, with less balance sheet lending and more focus on treasury, transaction banking, advisory, and selling some loans after origination.
Where it can break is simple: Chile is almost the whole story. If unemployment stays high, households miss payments. If companies wait to invest, loan growth stays weak. If regulators cut interchange fees, card revenue takes a direct hit.
Mortgages, cards, merchants, funds
Retail loans and credit cards
Consumer loans grew 2.5% in 2025 even as the wider retail loan book fell. Cards also helped fees, with card service fees up 12.8% in 2025.
Residential mortgages
Mortgages are a large part of the loan book and are often long dated. They give BSAC scale, but weak origination and rising mortgage risk were key issues in 2025.
Middle-market and SME banking
This business lends to smaller and mid-sized companies and sells payment, guarantee, and office banking services. Middle-market loans rose 2.2% in 2025.
Corporate Investment Banking
CIB serves large companies with loans, treasury, transaction banking, and advisory. Loans fell 7.1% in 2025 as the unit kept using a generate-to-distribute model.
Getnet merchant acquiring
Getnet helps merchants accept card payments. Fees rose 38.8% in 2025, and BSAC approved the sale of 49.99% of Getnet Chile in January 2026 while keeping a co-branded setup.
Mutual funds and wealth products
Mutual fund brokerage fees rose 21.7% in 2025. This business benefits when clients invest more through the bank instead of using only deposits.
Retail carries the loan book
Mix uses loans and accounts receivable from customers and interbank loans by reportable segment at December 31, 2025. Retail is the largest exposure, while Other is small and includes interbank loans.
What could break the thesis
Unemployment keeps borrowers stressed
High impact · Medium oddsThe bank says consumer and residential mortgage risk rose because unemployment stayed high. Total non-performing loans reached 3.3% of total loans in 2025. If jobs do not recover, provisions can eat the benefit from better margins.
Loan growth does not restart
Medium impact · Medium oddsTotal loans fell 0.9% in 2025. CIB loans fell because the bank is originating and selling some loans, while mortgages were also weak. If elections and a macro recovery do not lift demand, earnings growth may rely too much on margins and fees.
Card fee cap returns
Medium impact · Medium oddsThe second interchange fee cap cut is suspended, but it is not gone. Management estimates that if it takes effect, card fee revenue could face a significant negative impact of Ch$22 billion. That matters because cards and Getnet are central to the fee story.
Rate and inflation help fades
Medium impact · Medium oddsThe 2025 margin lift came from lower funding costs and the bank's liability base repricing faster than assets. If rates move the wrong way, or if the UF inflation gap turns less favorable, net interest income can weaken. The bank estimates a 100-basis-point shift in UF inflation would affect net interest income by about Ch$74 billion based on its 2025 average gap.
Digital execution disappoints
Medium impact · Low oddsBSAC now runs 100% on the cloud after the Gravity migration. That can support lower costs and more digital sales. But outages, weak adoption, or higher tech costs would hurt the digital bank with branches strategy.
In one breath
What does Banco Santander-Chile do?
It is a Chilean bank that serves households, SMEs, middle-market firms, large companies, and wealth clients. It earns money from lending spreads, card and account fees, merchant acquiring, mutual funds, treasury services, and other banking products.
Why did BSAC loans shrink in 2025?
Total loans fell 0.9% in 2025. The main reasons were weaker residential mortgage loans and a smaller CIB loan book, where the bank has been originating some loans and then selling them.
What is Getnet, and why does it matter?
Getnet is BSAC's merchant acquiring business, which helps stores and other sellers accept card payments. It matters because Getnet fees rose 38.8% in 2025 and the bank sold 49.99% of the unit in January 2026 while keeping operating ties.
What is the main risk for BSAC stock?
The biggest watch item is credit quality tied to Chile's labor market. Commercial credit improved, but consumer and mortgage non-performing loans worsened because unemployment stayed high.