As to what it can cover, I wouldn’t know where to start and where to end: it goes from funding students who want to carry out research, to funding those doing athletics. There’s one university in the UK that uses our funds to support sports that are not popular enough and without us would probably be stopped. Others are using it to stage debates on economic issues, others to incubate the business ideas of students. It’s really endless.

The PIE: So a big part of the philosophy is giving universities autonomy over how they spend the money.

LJ: Absolutely. Nobody but the vice chancellor knows what a university needs. So each university decides.

“In 2012, two per cent of the profit of the bank has been dedicated to support universities”

The PIE: Do you think that the world of finance and the private sector more generally are doing enough to support international education?

JAV: I think no, but at Santander yes we do. In 2012, two per cent of the profit of the bank as a group worldwide has been dedicated to support public and private universities. For us, education is a focus and we need to support it as a strategic goal.

The PIE: Are internationally educated graduates important for companies like Santander?

LJ: Absolutely. We are a global bank, we are present in 40 countries. So when we look for people to work with us we are looking for people with global minds, and who have open minds. And without universities giving that international preparation, we wouldn’t be able to get those employees.

The PIE: Should more be done to get kids studying abroad so they’re ready for the global workforce?

LJ: Yes. This month we launched new Formula Santander scholarships to get more students coming and going from the UK, Spain and Latin America. And we launched grants to encourage UK students to have an international experience, because for us it is a concern that UK students are not getting as much international experience as they should.

“UK students are not getting as much international experience as they should”

They have English and the best universities in the world so maybe that explains why they are not so keen on moving around. But it’s not all about languages and it’s not all about study. It’s really about the experience you get when you study abroad.

The PIE: For the future what is your vision for Santander?

JAV: We have an alliance with the governments in 18 countries worldwide. They see us as part of them, and we respect them. Now we need to be in the five continents, with 1,500 top universities worldwide, and we need to take into consideration the last 10 years. The number of students in the world has increased dramatically and will continue to increase, and we want to continue to be useful to them.