Santander partners with Gigs to launch in-app eSIM across 160 countries
Banco Santander has struck a global agreement with Gigs, a Berlin-based connectivity platform, to offer international mobile data plans directly inside the Santander app. The service, branded Santander eSIM, launches first in Spain and gives customers access to data coverage in more than 160 countries without replacing a physical SIM card. Portugal and Mexico are next in the rollout sequence, with further markets to follow.
The product targets frequent travellers looking for an alternative to traditional roaming tariffs, particularly outside the European Union where regulatory price caps do not apply. Once an eSIM is activated via the app, users can top up data rather than downloading a new profile for each trip. Available plan sizes run from 3 GB to 50 GB, with coverage confirmed for destinations including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil, Morocco, Turkey and Thailand.
The deal
Santander describes the initiative as part of its Global Businesses strategy, which aims to develop scalable digital products that can be deployed across the group's multi-market retail footprint. The bank did not disclose commercial terms, revenue-share arrangements, or the pricing tiers attached to each data package beyond confirming that plans are designed to suit different travel profiles.
Gigs positions itself as an operating system for embedded mobile services, selling connectivity infrastructure to fintechs and technology companies rather than directly to consumers. Its existing customer roster includes Revolut, Klarna, Nubank, Motorola and Latam Airlines. The company was founded in 2020 by Hermann Frank and Dennis Bauer and has received backing from Ribbit Capital, Google and Y Combinator, among others. The Santander partnership represents a significant step into traditional retail banking for a startup that has largely operated within fintech and technology-platform channels.
Market context
Embedded connectivity, sometimes called connectivity-as-a-service, has emerged as a logical extension of the super-app ambitions held by large retail banks seeking to reduce customer churn and deepen daily engagement. Several European neobanks, including Revolut, already bundle travel eSIM plans into premium subscription tiers, and a number of well-funded startups are building eSIM distribution infrastructure for non-telco brands. Santander's move signals that incumbent banks are prepared to compete in this space by leveraging their existing app install bases and customer trust rather than building or acquiring network infrastructure outright.
From a regulatory standpoint, the eSIM service sits at the intersection of banking supervision and electronic communications regulation. In the EU, eSIM provisioning is subject to GSMA technical standards and, depending on how data plans are marketed, may attract scrutiny from national telecoms regulators as well as financial-conduct authorities monitoring fair-value obligations for bundled products. Santander has not disclosed whether the eSIM offer will be available to all app users or restricted to specific account tiers, a distinction that could carry conduct-risk implications in markets with strong consumer-protection frameworks.
Outlook
The bank's multi-market rollout ambition is credible given Santander's presence in more than a dozen countries across Europe, Latin America and North America, but execution will depend on Gigs maintaining reliable network agreements with local operators in each jurisdiction. No launch date has been given for markets beyond Spain, and no customer acquisition targets or revenue projections were included in the announcement. Industry observers will watch whether the eSIM product is offered as a standalone purchase or eventually folded into a premium banking subscription, a model that has proven effective for neobank competitors at driving recurring non-interest income.