Spotlight On: Mark Schrieber, Managing Director, Head of Mid-Atlantic & South Corporate & Middle Market Banking, Santander Bank, N.A.
June 2025 — Santander Bank’s Head of Mid-Atlantic & South Corporate & Middle Market Banking Mark Schrieber talked with Invest: about how the bank continues to grow domestically and internationally through its extensive global network, commitment to innovation, and white-gloved approach to deepening client relationships. “The future for Santander is bright. The U.S. is a strategic growth market for Santander, and Philadelphia benefits from that,” he said.
Reflecting on the past year, what have been the main highlights and key milestones for Santander’s Commercial Bank in the Philadelphia area?
The most impactful aspect of the last year has involved continuing to invest and build out our team so that we can better support our clients and grow our business in the process. We hired significant resources across our team to enable us to deepen relationships and thoroughly support clients across their holistic banking needs, including day-to-day cash management, payment solutions, managing liquidity, credit and lending, international growth, and fraud protection. We take a client-centric approach, so our processes involve providing integrated solutions with white-glove service to support our clients in every phase of growth.
What is your overview of the banking and financial services industry in Philadelphia, including emerging trends?
It is an uncertain time. Businesses and banks across sectors are operating cautiously. The economy has been performing well; however, there are new concerns arising, such as the pending tariffs and their impact on growth. There are questions about how tariffs will affect the performance of American companies, given persistent inflation, a softening economy, and what has been a resilient labor market, among other questions. We are spending a great deal of time analyzing these issues, as our priority is to assist our clients in navigating the current situation effectively by providing the resources and expertise to help them through it all.
How is Santander Bank leveraging technology and innovation to improve customer experience and make operations more efficient?
Technology is changing rapidly, and we are transforming our business to provide our clients with state-of-the-art solutions around payments and collections. We are also introducing new technologies and payment tools that are focused on automation, such as integrated payables and card products that help clients make payments more efficiently while staying safe in the process.
In addition, we are evaluating how to leverage AI to deepen relationships with our clients. Similarly, our clients are navigating AI and how to integrate it into their businesses to stay ahead of their competition and increase profitability. We also continue to innovate and leverage technology in terms of how our clients access our platforms to make payments timely. In other words, if a client needs to pay someone that same day they can do so electronically, as opposed to relying on other options, which are more expensive and take more time. Part of our responsibility is to anticipate client needs, such as payment requests and overseas challenges, and address them quickly.
From a banking perspective, what makes Philadelphia an ideal location for business expansions and relocations?
Philadelphia is an ideal location for growth. We have attracted a record-high number of inquiries from businesses looking to relocate here. Venture capital funds are flowing into the Greater Philadelphia area at a record pace. This is because Philadelphia’s education and medical sectors are robust, with deep-rooted, anchor institutions that foster business formation and growth.
In what ways does Santander Bank separate itself from other banking and financial services institutions operating in the Philadelphia area?
Our primary strength is found in our global scale in Latin America and Western Europe. We have the capabilities to provide a full range of holistic financial solutions that are physically located in the United States while having at-scale operations in overlapping markets overseas. It may be difficult to do business in markets like Argentina, Brazil, or Mexico, but if you have a local team on the ground that can provide services augmenting your operations in Philadelphia, all of these efforts can be fused together to provide a client-centric approach to banking.
What are the primary challenges for the banking and financial services industry at the moment, and how is Santander Bank working to address these?
It’s an uncertain time and challenges can be difficult to anticipate in this environment. Tariffs are inflationary and can result in slower growth along with lower consumer spending. In response, we engage with our clients to determine where they are seeing impacts on their business and discuss ideas to mitigate those challenges. We strive to be a resource to our clients through our local expertise, international capabilities, or by leaning in with our financial strength to provide or increase credit facilities that might act as a buffer to help mitigate uncertainty.
What are the top goals and priorities for the next two to three years for Santander’s Commercial Bank in the Philadelphia area?
The future for Santander is bright. We have been investing in our team because we know that talent is everything. We have the right people in the right seats who are active in the market and focused on leveraging our strengths, like our international network and digital solutions, to serve as a trusted advisor and support our clients through every challenge and opportunity.
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