SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of Directors of Santander BanCorp (NYSE: SBP; LATIBEX: XSBP), declared a cash dividend amounting to $0.16 per common share. The dividend shall be payable on January 2, 2007 to shareholders of record as of December 8, 2006. Cash dividends on common shares are eligible for direct reinvestment under the Company's Dividend Reinvestment and Cash Purchase Plan. For additional information on how to participate in Santander BanCorp's Dividend Reinvestment and Cash Purchase Plan, shareholders should contact our transfer agent and registrar, Mellon Investor Services LLC, at (800) 851-9677. Institutional Background Santander BanCorp is a publicly held financial holding company that is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (SBP) and on Latibex (Madrid Stock Exchange) (XSBP). 91% of the outstanding common stock of Santander BanCorp is owned by Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A. (Santander). The Company has five wholly owned subsidiaries, Banco Santander Puerto Rico, Santander Securities Corporation, Santander Financial Services, Santander Insurance Agency and Island Insurance Corporation. Banco Santander Puerto Rico has been operating in Puerto Rico for nearly three decades. It offers a full array of services through 63 branches in the areas of commercial, mortgage and consumer banking, supported by a team of over 1,400 employees. Santander Securities offers securities brokerage services and provides portfolio management services through its wholly owned subsidiary Santander Asset Management Corporation. Santander Financial Services offers consumer finance products through its network of 70 branches throughout the Island. Santander Insurance Agency offers life, health and disability coverage as a corporate agent and also operates as a general agent. For more information, visit the Company's website at http://www.santandernet.com/. Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) is the largest bank in the Euro Zone by market capitalization and one of the largest worldwide. Founded in 1857, Santander has euro 798,540 million in assets and euro 961,093 million in managed funds, 67 million customers, 10,583 offices and a presence in 40 countries. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America, and is a major player elsewhere in Europe, including the United Kingdom through its Abbey subsidiary and Portugal, where it is the third largest banking group. Through Santander Consumer Finance, it also operates a leading consumer finance franchise in Germany, Italy, Spain and nine other European countries. In the first nine months of 2006, Santander recorded euro 4,947 million in net attributable profit, 28% more than in the same period of the previous year. In Latin America, Santander manages over US$200 billion in banking business volumes (loans, deposits, mutual funds, pension funds and managed funds) through 4,200 offices. In the first nine months of 2006, Santander recorded in Latin America US$2,237 million in net attributable income, 31% higher that in the prior year. This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industry in which the Company operates, its beliefs and its management's assumptions. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in such forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the SEC, the Company does not have any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise. DATASOURCE: Santander BanCorp CONTACT: Maria Calero, +1-787-777-4437, or Evelyn Vega, +1-787-777-4546 Web site: http://www.santandernet.com/

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