| **BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION** | 12 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     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| **Segment Reporting [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     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| BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION     | BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATIONThe Company’s reportable segments, excluding its investment in SCUSA, are focused principally around the customers the Bank serves. The Company has identified the following reportable segments: •The Retail Banking segment is primarily comprised of branch locations and residential mortgage business. The branches are responsible for attracting deposits through a variety of demand and negotiable order of withdrawal ("NOW") accounts, money market and savings accounts, CDs and retirement savings products.  The branch locations also offer consumer loans such as home equity loans and lines of credit, as well as business banking and small business loans to individuals. Santander Universities, which provides grants and scholarships to universities and colleges around the globe as a way to foster education through research, innovation and entrepreneurship is the last component of the retail banking segment.•The Auto Finance & Alliances segment currently provides indirect and direct consumer loans, as well as wholesale loans to dealers. The customers in this segment are high quality, multi-franchise dealers.•The Investment Services segment offers annuities, mutual funds, managed monies, insurance products and acts as an investment brokerage agent to the customers of the Retail reporting unit. Currently, annuities comprise the majority of the assets under management. •The Real Estate & Commercial Banking segment offers commercial real estate loans, multi-family loans, commercial loans, and the Bank's related commercial deposits.•The Specialty & Government Banking segment provides financing and deposits for government entities and provides niche product financing for specific industries, including oil and gas, commercial equipment financing, and mortgage warehousing, among others.•The GBM & Large Corporate Banking segment serves the need of global commercial and institutional customers by leveraging the international footprint of Santander Group.•The Non-Strategic Assets segment is primarily comprised of non-strategic lending groups, which include runoff of indirect legacy automobile, aviation and continuing care retirement community portfolios.•SCUSA is a specialized consumer finance company engaged in the purchase, securitization, and servicing of retail installment contracts originated by automobile dealers and direct origination of retail installment contracts over the internet. As of December 31, 2013, the Company owned approximately 65% of SCUSA. The Company's investment balance in SCUSA for the year ended December 31, 2013 was $2.9 billion, compared to $2.7 billion for 2012. The Other category includes earnings from the investment portfolio, interest expense on the Bank’s borrowings and other debt obligations, amortization of intangible assets and certain unallocated corporate income and indirect expenses.The Company’s segment results, excluding SCUSA, are derived from the Company’s business unit profitability reporting system by specifically attributing managed balance sheet assets, deposits and other liabilities and their related interest income or expense to each of the segments. Funds transfer pricing methodologies are utilized to allocate a cost for funds used or a credit for funds provided to business line deposits, loans and selected other assets using a matched funding concept.Other income and expenses are directly managed by each business line, including fees, service charges, salaries and benefits, and other direct expenses, as well as certain allocated corporate expenses, and are accounted for within each segment’s financial results. Accounting policies for the lines of business are the same as those used in preparation of the consolidated financial statements with respect to activities specifically attributable to each business line. However, the preparation of business line results requires management to establish methodologies to allocate funding costs and benefits, expenses and other financial elements to each line of business. Where practical, the results are adjusted to present consistent methodologies for the segments.NOTE 22. BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION (continued)The application and development of management reporting methodologies is a dynamic process and is subject to periodic enhancements. The implementation of these enhancements to the internal management reporting methodology may materially affect the results disclosed for each segment, with no impact on the consolidated results. Whenever significant changes to management reporting methodologies take place, prior period information is reclassified wherever practicable.During the first quarter of 2013, internal funds transfer pricing ("FTP") guidelines and methodologies were revised to align with Santander corporate criteria for internal management reporting. This change included implementation of contract-level liquidity premium methodology replacing the weighted average life method assumptions used in 2012 for internal management reporting. These changes in internal FTP guidelines and methodologies impact all reporting segments. However, the impact varies based on the segment's product portfolio composition. During the third quarter of 2013, certain management and business line changes were announced which were effective for reporting purposes during the fourth quarter. Accordingly, the following changes were made within the Company's reportable segments to provide greater focus on each of its core businesses: •New originations in the Auto Finance & Alliances business, previously under the Retail Banking reportable segment, are now part of the Auto Finance & Alliances reportable segment. •Previously under the Retail Banking reportable segment, Investment Services is now a separate reportable segment. •Santander Universities, previously included in the Other category, is now part of the Retail Banking reportable segment. •Previously under the Corporate Banking reportable segment, Real Estate & Commercial Banking and Specialty & Government Banking are now separate reportable segments. Excluding the FTP change in the first quarter of 2013, prior period results have been recast to conform to the new composition of the reportable segments. Due to system constraints, the FTP change is not able to be recast. The following tables present certain information regarding the Company’s segments. All balances are presented in thousands.For the Year Ended  Investment ServicesReal Estate & Commercial Banking       December 31, 2013Retail BankingAuto Finance & AlliancesSpecialty & Government BankingGBM & Large Corporate BankingNon-Strategic AssetsOther(2)Equity method investment in SCUSA TotalNet interest income$759,103$17,849$5$401,097$93,492$164,790$26,338$51,097$— $1,513,771Total non-interest income344,09486749,330104,99315,25781,67010,06328,652453,157 1,088,083Provision for credit losses148,1621,892—(49,650)2,453(893)(11,939)(43,175)— 46,850Total expenses861,3806,13235,078154,78931,16856,88433,802587,368— 1,766,601Income/(loss) before income taxes93,65510,69214,257400,95175,128190,46914,538(464,444)453,157 788,403            Intersegment (expense)/revenue(1)115,248(3,755)5(381,907)(3,358)(48,247)(26,150)348,164— —Total average assets$19,570,351$772,851$1,455$20,060,250$2,760,241$8,150,883$878,976$27,632,641$— $79,827,648NOTE 22. BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION (continued)For the Year Ended  Investment ServicesReal Estate & Commercial Banking       December 31, 2012Retail Banking(3)Auto Finance & AlliancesSpecialty & Government BankingGBM & Large Corporate BankingNon-Strategic AssetsOther(2)Equity method investment in SCUSA TotalNet interest income$716,252$15,238$3$408,188$90,854$136,989$40,798$265,801$—1,674,123,000$1,674,123Total non-interest income366,93099844,69372,18511,90060,98514,131120,202447,5721,139,596,0001,139,596Provision for credit losses271,926(537)—(7,776)(3,832)14,983765117,271—392,800,000392,800Total expenses831,9702,13032,335130,83325,24948,58527,729867,301—1,966,132Income/(loss) before income taxes(20,714)14,64312,361357,31681,337134,40626,435(598,569)447,572454,787,000454,787            Intersegment (expense)/revenue(1)(21,292)(6,906)3(433,033)(377)(58,428)(53,291)573,324— —Total average assets(4)$21,996,224$836,082$127$19,720,608$2,204,482$7,529,074$1,491,259$29,266,820$— $83,044,676For the Year Ended  Investment ServicesReal Estate & Commercial Banking       December 31, 2011Retail Banking(6)Auto Finance & AlliancesSpecialty & Government BankingGBM & Large Corporate BankingNon-Strategic AssetsOther(2)(7)Equity method investment in SCUSA TotalNet interest income$726,718$18,633$4$330,887$78,009$88,021$55,643$381,584$2,185,315 $3,864,814Total non-interest income395,5541,1895,08362,70812,46043,46016,4901,004,354440,525 1,981,823Provision for credit losses(5)225,9161,103—175,4581,12824,15173,158(184)819,221 1,319,951Total expenses789,73198526,179121,35414,99216,53627,700808,297554,387 2,360,161Income/(loss) before income taxes106,62517,734(21,092)96,78374,34990,794(28,725)577,8251,252,232 2,166,525            Intersegment (expense)/revenue(1)(47,371)(4,973)4(556,961)(6,337)(19,382)(109,328)744,348— —Total average assets(4)$21,941,330$755,114$24$19,594,169$1,954,356$4,843,020$2,545,113$24,629,528$15,815,394 $92,078,048(1) Intersegment revenue/(expense) represents charges or credits for funds used or provided by each of the segments and are included in net interest income.(2) Other is not considered a segment and includes earnings from the investment portfolio, interest expense on the Bank’s borrowings and other debt obligations, amortization of intangible assets and certain unallocated corporate income and indirect expenses.(3) Income/(loss) before income taxes reflects the impact of two main items, Chapter 7 bankruptcy loans described in Note 4 and GSE reserves that have been fully allocated to the Retail Banking reportable segment.(4) Average assets for Other in 2012 includes a full year of equity investment in SCUSA, while average assets in 2011 only included one day of the investment. (5) In certain circumstances, specific valuation allowances ("SVAs") were permitted to be used instead of partial charge-offs by the OTS, the Company's former regulator. The OCC does not permit the establishment of SVAs. Accordingly, the Bank charged off $103.7 million of mortgage loans during the third quarter of 2011. These charge-offs did not have an impact on the results of operations for the segment or in consolidation.(6) The Retail Banking segment fees and other income includes residential servicing rights impairments of $42.5 million for 2011.(7) In 2011, fees and other income in the Other category included a $987.7 million gain related to the SCUSA Transaction. |

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| - Definition
The entire disclosure for reporting segments including data and tables. Reportable segments include those that meet any of the following quantitative thresholds a) it's reported revenue, including sales to external customers and intersegment sales or transfers is 10 percent or more of the combined revenue, internal and external, of all operating segments b) the absolute amount of its reported profit or loss is 10 percent or more of the greater, in absolute amount of 1) the combined reported profit of all operating segments that did not report a loss or 2) the combined reported loss of all operating segments that did report a loss c) its assets are 10 percent or more of the combined assets of all operating segments.
+ References
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