*

Will operate European consumer unit under Openbank brand

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Germany will be the first market to initiate integration

*

Santander expects other markets to follow

(Adds details on customer deposits in paragraph 3, quote from

head of DCB in 8, details on Openbank and its strategy from 7)

By Jesús Aguado

MADRID, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Spain's Santander is

merging its digital lender Openbank with its consumer finance

business in Europe as part of a drive to simplify its structure

and reduce costs, the bank said on Wednesday.

The new entity will manage Santander's consumer finance

operations under the Openbank brand, starting with Germany, with

other markets to follow, Santander said.

Openbank and Santander Consumer Finance belong to the

group's global digital consumer bank business. In Europe, this

business has 84 billion euros ($98 billion) in customer

deposits.

SCF is an auto finance leader in Europe with over 140

billion euros in loans.

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In 2023, Santander reorganised its business into retail,

consumer, payments, wealth, and corporate and investment banking

units to try to improve efficiency and boost its value.

The euro zone's biggest lender by market value did not

disclose potential cost savings from the merger.

Nitin Prabhu, global head of Santander's Digital Consumer

Bank global business, said the combination would create a "more

efficient and innovative digital-first bank".

Santander, which focuses on 10 core markets, is building its

own technology platform for consumer and digital-only banking.

Openbank currently operates in Spain, Germany, Portugal and

the Netherlands and has expanded to the U.S. and Mexico.

In recent years, Openbank and SCF have forged partnerships

with the likes of Apple ( AAPL ), Amazon ( AMZN ) and Vodafone ( VOD )

in various European countries.

Santander said the integration would allow clients to access

a wider range of products through a unified digital platform.

($1 = 0.8593 euros)