Banco Santander - Chile (BSAC) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
BSAC is the NYSE-listed ADR of Banco Santander-Chile, the largest bank in Chile by loans and a majority-owned subsidiary of Spain's Banco Santander. Investors typically hold it for exposure to a high-return-on-equity Latin American retail and commercial bank that pays a sizable annual dividend, while accepting Chilean peso and country risk.
BSAC stock price
As of 2026-07-24, Banco Santander - Chile (BSAC) last closed at $33.47, up 42.9% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $22.88 and $37.46.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Banco Santander - Chile's investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Banco Santander - Chile (BSAC) do?
Banco Santander-Chile is Chile's largest bank by loans and second largest by deposits, serving roughly 4.6 million customers (about 2.3 million of them digital) across retail banking, commercial and corporate and investment banking, wealth management and insurance, and consumer banking. Retail banking drives about two-thirds of loans and net interest margin. The bank is majority-controlled by Spain's Banco Santander SA and trades in the US as an ADR (each ADR represents a set number of underlying Santander-Chile shares). It also runs the fast-growing Getnet payments business, which has taken meaningful merchant-acquiring share in Chile and into which Santander is bringing PagoNxt as a strategic partner while keeping control.
The investment picture is that of a well-run, highly profitable emerging-market bank. Santander-Chile posted a return on equity around 23 percent in 2025 and 2026, a best-in-class efficiency ratio near 36 percent, and a strong capital position, and it returns a large share of profits as dividends. The offsetting factors are that results are sensitive to Chilean inflation (which feeds the bank's UF-indexed margin), local interest rates, and loan growth, and that US investors bear Chilean-peso-to-dollar currency swings and single-country political and regulatory risk on top of normal bank credit risk.
What's driving Banco Santander - Chile (BSAC)?
1. High and durable profitability
Santander-Chile has sustained return on equity around 23 percent, with management guiding to roughly 22 to 24 percent for 2026. A best-in-class efficiency ratio near 36 percent and disciplined cost control support returns even when inflation and rates soften.
2. Net interest margin and lower funding costs
Net interest income has grown despite a lower-inflation backdrop, helped by improved margins and reduced funding costs. Because part of the balance sheet is inflation-indexed (UF), a normalizing but positive inflation environment tends to support spread income.
3. Digital banking and Getnet payments
The bank continues to shift customers to digital channels and is scaling Getnet, which has reached roughly 19 percent share of physical card transactions with more than 316,000 POS terminals. Bringing PagoNxt in as a partner is intended to reinforce that payments franchise.
4. Dividend and capital return
Santander-Chile targets a high dividend payout (around 60 percent of prior-year profit), which produces a substantial annual cash distribution to ADR holders while maintaining a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio near 11 percent.
What are the risks to Banco Santander - Chile (BSAC)?
The biggest risks are macro and currency: results depend heavily on Chilean inflation, interest rates, and GDP growth, and US ADR holders are exposed to Chilean-peso weakness against the dollar, which can erode dividend and share value in dollar terms. As a single-country bank, it carries Chilean political, regulatory, and tax risk, including periodic reform debates. Credit costs can rise in an economic downturn, and loan growth guidance is only mid-single digits, limiting the growth story. Concentration in one emerging market and majority control by parent Banco Santander (which limits minority-shareholder influence) are additional considerations.
How is Banco Santander - Chile (BSAC) valued? (approximate, July 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Banco Santander - Chile's investor relations page or your broker.
- Market capitalization: ~$15.6B
- 2025 net income: ~Ch$1.05 trillion (~$2.48 per ADR)
- Return on equity (2025 / 2026): ~23%
- P/E (TTM): ~14-15x
- Dividend yield: ~3.3%
- CET1 capital ratio: ~11%
At roughly $15.6B market cap and a mid-teens P/E, BSAC is valued as a mature, high-ROE emerging-market bank rather than a growth story. The dividend yield near 3.3 percent reflects a high payout ratio (about 60 percent of prior-year profit), and reported figures fluctuate with the Chilean-peso-to-dollar rate since earnings are earned in pesos.
Who competes with Banco Santander - Chile (BSAC)?
Chilean banks
Banco de Chile (BCH), BCI (Banco de Credito e Inversiones), and Itau Chile / Itau Corpbanca are the main domestic rivals competing for loans, deposits, and payments share; Santander-Chile leads on loans and is second on deposits.
Latin American bank ADRs
Other US-listed LatAm banks such as Banco de Chile, Itau Unibanco, Banco Bradesco, and Grupo Financiero Galicia offer comparable emerging-market-bank exposure that investors weigh against BSAC.
Payments and fintech
Through Getnet, Santander-Chile competes in merchant acquiring and payments against Transbank, Mercado Pago, and other fintech and card-processing players in Chile.
How to invest in Banco Santander - Chile (BSAC)
There are three common ways to get BSAC exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so BSAC sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where BSAC fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on Banco Santander - Chile (BSAC)
BSAC is a way to own Chile's leading bank through a dividend-paying US ADR, with the trade-off being currency, inflation, and single-country emerging-market exposure.
More on Banco Santander - Chile (BSAC)
Whether BSAC is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is BSAC a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the BSAC stock forecast.
For income investors, whether BSAC pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does BSAC pay a dividend?
Build a basket around BSAC with Walnut
Use Banco Santander - Chile as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What is BSAC?
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BSAC is the New York Stock Exchange ADR of Banco Santander-Chile, the largest bank in Chile by loans. Each ADR represents underlying Santander-Chile shares, letting US investors hold the Chilean bank in dollars.
Is Banco Santander-Chile the same as Banco Santander?
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No. Banco Santander-Chile is a separately listed Chilean bank that is majority-owned and controlled by Spain's Banco Santander SA. BSAC gives exposure specifically to the Chilean operation, not the global parent.
How profitable is Banco Santander-Chile?
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It has been highly profitable, posting a return on equity around 23 percent in 2025 and 2026 with an efficiency ratio near 36 percent. Management has guided to roughly 22 to 24 percent ROE for 2026.
Does BSAC pay a dividend?
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Yes. Santander-Chile pays an annual dividend, targeting a payout near 60 percent of prior-year profit. The ADR yield has been around 3.3 percent, though the dollar amount varies with the Chilean peso exchange rate.
What are the main risks of owning BSAC?
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Key risks include Chilean-peso currency swings against the dollar, sensitivity to Chilean inflation and interest rates, single-country political and regulatory exposure, and normal bank credit risk in a downturn.
Who competes with Banco Santander-Chile?
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Its main domestic competitors are Banco de Chile, BCI, and Itau Chile. In payments, its Getnet unit competes with Transbank, Mercado Pago, and other fintech acquirers.
How does inflation affect BSAC's earnings?
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Part of the bank's balance sheet is inflation-indexed to the UF unit, so higher inflation tends to lift net interest margin, while a low-inflation environment can pressure margins. This makes Chilean inflation an important earnings driver.
How can I invest in BSAC through Walnut?
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You can connect a brokerage that supports BSAC and add it to a thematic basket to track it alongside a stated investment thesis. Walnut is not an investment adviser and does not tell you whether to buy or sell; it helps you organize and monitor positions you choose.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Banco Santander - Chile's investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.