March 18 (Reuters) - Spanish banking giant Banco

Santander is pushing to expand its U.S. operations

through a partnership with Verizon by tapping into the

telecom major's vast customer base, a source familiar with the

matter said on Tuesday.

The partnership will let Verizon customers to earn bill

credits by opening high-yield savings accounts with Santander's

new digital bank platform, the source said.

Verizon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for

a comment.

Santander has one of the biggest auto-lending businesses in

the United States. It wants to use the U.S. to build its own

technology platform for consumer banking, including digital-only

banking and consumer finance.

The bank formally launched its U.S. digital bank in October,

offering high-yield savings accounts, which could help fund up

to $30 billion in loans for vehicle purchases and broaden its

retail business in the U.S.

Santander is one of the few European banks with a retail

presence in the U.S. market following the exit of rivals BBVA

and BNP Paribas. It has 409 branches mainly

in nine states in the Northeast.

The lender will also consider other partnerships as it aims

to become a full-service digital bank in the U.S., Ana Botin,

Santander's executive chair, told Wall Street Journal in an

interview, which had first reported the news.

In October last year, Botin said she expected the bank to

have a full-service digital bank in the U.S. by the end of 2025

- a crucial step, as Santander's U.S. business has been

generating subpar returns.

Last month, the Spanish bank announced various investments

amounting to over $2 billion in Mexico over the next three

years.

(Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi, Kritika Singh and Rishabh

Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Mrigank

Dhaniwala)