Santander has always positioned itself as a bank that is constantly on the side of small businesses but has been increasingly suffering from the competition of fintechs, digital banks, and traditional banks interested in this business segment. At the same time, it noticed, between 2017 and 2020, the publishing market in Brazil had shrunk by 39%. In this context, we saw an opportunity to expand our physical service network, generate visibility and really step up for the newsstands, with benefits for people, cities, and the economy.

Our idea was to revitalize the newsstands to demonstrate the bank's commitment to small businesses and, at the same time, expand the brand's visibility and service network. In addition to a profound visual renovation of the newsstands, we also rethink its business model.

Without losing its editorial essence, we added three new sources of income:

• The newsstands started offering banking services like withdrawals, bill payments, etc.

• New services such as locksmith, and cellphone repair, among others.

• A long-term outdoor media contract.

The idea was to ensure more significant and sustainable profitability in the long run. By supporting the newsstands, we knew that we would have a lot of visibility and a place where people could really feel that we were on the side of the entrepreneurs.

When we thought about the challenge of positioning ourselves as a bank that really supports small businesses, we knew that we would have to walk the talk.

That's when we thought newsstands could be the flagship stores that demonstrate our role as a bank. In their favor, we consider their visibility, their historical importance as true cultural landmarks in urban landscapes, and the general knowledge that they are a segment experiencing a crisis and need help.

Here comes this project's fundamental strategy: instead of claiming we support entrepreneurs, we want people to see an entrepreneur thriving.

So, there was a need to create a business plan where the newsstands, the bank, and the cities would have mutual and long-term benefits.

Thus, by targeting newsstand owners, we have managed to reach the entire population and position ourselves as a bank that goes a long way to support small businesses.

The project began a pilot phase, where we tested the economic feasibility and technical difficulty of renovations during the pandemic.

After the test, the bank launched an advertising campaign that portrayed the transformation of newsstands.

We expected 100 registrations. We got more than 300 across the country. With the restrictions of the pandemic, we prioritized renovations in smaller cities, where there were no bank branches. All stalls are already operating, 70% carried out in the last year.

Santander's service network in Brazil, which consisted of approximately 2,500 service points, grew by another 10% at a fraction of the cost of opening traditional physical branches.

With 300 newsstands in the program, the bank expanded its service network by 10%, reaching even 20 small towns that did not have any bank branches. Bearing in mind that in small cities like those, the internet network is deficient, and having bank service in place is a leap in quality in the lives of many people. And most importantly, each of these newsstand owners has seen their income increase by an average of 30% since they joined in.