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Webster Bank, the largest bank headquartered in Connecticut, has been acquired by Banco Santander for about $12.2 billion. Webster’s branches includes this one at 1120 Main St., in Newington, Conn.<\/p>\n
File photo\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
Banco Santander has acquired Webster Bank, the largest bank headquartered in Connecticut for about $12.2 billion. Santander’s branches includes this one at 3237 Berlin Turnpike in Newington, Conn.<\/p>\n
File photo\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
Webster Bank’ branches include this one at 244 Post Road E., in Westport, Conn.<\/p>\n
File photo<\/p>\n
Santander Bank branches include this one at 342 N. Main St.,\u00a0in West Hartford, Conn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Michael Hamad \/ Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
In the past few years,\u00a0Webster Bank has been headquartered in this building at 200 Elm St., in Stamford, Conn. Webster has been acquired by\u00a0Banco Santander, but it will keep those offices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alexander Soule\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
John Ciulla, CEO and chairman of Webster Bank, speaks at the CBIA Summit Outlook at the Connecticut Convention Center on Jan. 29, 2026. As a result of Banco Santander’s acquisition of Webster, Ciulla has become CEO of Santander Bank NA, which is part of Santander US.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jim Michaud\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
Christiana Riley is CEO of Santander US, a wholly owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Contributed photo\/Santander US<\/p>\n
The largest transaction in the history of Connecticut banking is now a done deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Madrid-based\u00a0Banco Santander announced Thursday the completion of its $12.2 billion acquisition of Stamford-headquartered Webster Bank<\/a>. As a result, Santander\u2019s U.S. business has added Webster\u2019s approximately 3.5 million customers to its own contingent of about 4.5 million. But customers’ daily banking experiences will not change immediately, while Webster\u2019s main corporate offices will stay put, according to the two companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s an incredibly complimentary transaction,\u201d John\u00a0Ciulla, who formerly served as Webster’s CEO and is now CEO of Santander Bank NA, into which Webster\u2019s businesses have been integrated, said in a video-conference interview this week. \u201cYou take a decidedly commercially focused regional bank in Webster, and you think about Santander’s strength as a consumer lender, with a good footprint as a retail bank as well, and then there\u2019s this incredible global network where you’ve got more capital and better technology to deliver. From the Webster perspective, it allows us to keep doing what we are doing at a bigger scale, with more tools to arm our customer-facing retail and commercial bankers with.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Through the acquisition, Santander now presides over a combined U.S. balance sheet of approximately $327 billion in assets, $185 billion in loans and $172 billion in deposits, based on data from the end of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Connecticut,\u00a0Santander has added more than $40 billion in deposits and 95 branches. In total, Webster has about 200 branches, with its other locations in Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. Webster\u2019s in-state deposits and branch counts rank highest among Connecticut-based banks and second overall in both categories. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Santander has 13 branches in Connecticut, with in-state deposits of about $1.9 billion, reflecting a presence in the Nutmeg State that goes back to its acquisition of Sovereign Bank in 2009. It has much larger branch networks in Massachusetts and New York, while it also has branches in Delaware, Florida, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the perspective of our commitment and investment appetite in the U.S., this is an extremely significant and strategic investment for us, that rounds out a stable of businesses that we operate in the United States, and positions us as a significantly better competitor, stronger competitor, and one of the leading retail and commercial banks in the United States, with a deep presence in the northeast,\u201d\u00a0Christiana Riley, CEO of Santander US, whose units include Santander Bank, said during the same interview that included Ciulla. \u00a0<\/p>\n Santander is not planning any Webster branch closings, while the Webster brand will remain for the foreseeable future, according to company officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Webster brand stays in place. The\u00a0Santander brand stays in place,\u201d Ciulla said. \u201cAnd then we’ve got a very detailed and purposeful plan, over a reasonable period of time, to bring everyone on to one system. And we’ll make sure that when that happens, we’re prepared to minimize any customer disruption.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Webster has a long history of deal-making, with its other transactions including the completion in 2022 of a merger worth approximately $10.3 billion<\/a> with Pearl River, New York-based Sterling National Bank. As a result of that transaction, Webster moved its headquarters from Waterbury to Stamford, while keeping its offices in Waterbury. Webster was founded in Waterbury in 1935.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among acquisitions of Connecticut-based banks, the record was previously set when Buffalo, New York-headquartered M&T Bank bought Bridgeport-based People\u2019s United Bank for $8.3 billion in 2022<\/a>. Today, M&T ranks first for branches and third in deposits in Connecticut.\u00a0<\/p>\n Problems emanating from the conversion in September 2022 of People\u2019s United accounts to\u00a0M&T accounts triggered a wave of customer complaints, as well as outcry from a number of elected officials. Customer sentiment about M&T has improved significantly since then, while state agencies have dealt with relatively low caseloads for other banks. In the 2025-26 fiscal year, the state attorney general\u2019s office received 28 complaints about Bank of America, which has the most deposits in the state; 11 about M&T; eight about Webster; and seven about Santander.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe will be watching this conversion closely and expect that consumers will continue to receive prompt, reliable service,\u201d Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said of the\u00a0Webster-Santander deal in a written statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n State Rep. Tom\u00a0Delnicki, R-South Windsor, the ranking House member of the General Assembly\u2019s Banking Committee, told CT Insider that he was confident in Santander\u2019s\u00a0management of the acquisition. South Windsor is one of several municipalities in the Hartford area where both Webster and Santander have a branch.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Webster-Sterling merger went smoothly, and my expectation is that the\u00a0Webster-Santander deal will go smoothly as well,\u201d Delnicki said. \u201cI think it\u2019s being done in a judicious fashion, and I think that they\u2019ve done their homework.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Regulators that approved the acquisition include Connecticut’s banking commissioner, the Federal Reserve System\u2019s Board of Governors, the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the European Central Bank.\u00a0<\/p>\n What’s next for Webster employees<\/p>\n Santander US has more than 10,000 employees, and it will gain a Webster workforce of about 4,500. In Connecticut, there are approximately 1,800 Webster employees and about 70 Santander employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n