Julio Faura

Global Head of Innovation, Banco Santander,

Julio’s career has been running for more than 20 years along the worlds of Technology and Financial Services.

He started out as chip designer, focusing on high performance analog (full custom) and digital systems-on-chip as well as complex chip design platforms that led to more than 30 publications in international refereed forums.

He then worked for McKinsey & Co, where he specialized in Banking serving many of the top financial institutions in Spain, Europe and LatAm. In 2007 he joined Santander, where he has played corporate leadership roles in Investment Banking, Consumer Finance, and IT & Operations, and has participated in many of Santander’s acquisition processes during the last years.

He currently plays a leading role in Santander's Innovation Division as Head of R&D, executing major innovation projects globally, leading new business incubation efforts, and actively contributing to Santander's M&A and Venture Capital activity in Fintech. A passionate entrepreneur, he founds internal startups and Joint Ventures, focusing on eCommerce, digital financial services, alternative (online) lending platforms and marketplaces, and mobile payments. Julio also leads Santander's activities around crypto-currencies and distributed ledgers, including colaboration with other leading banks in the space and participation in industry forums and consortiums.

An engineer at heart, Julio holds a Telecommunication Engineering degree from UPM-Spain, a PhD in Computer Science / Electrical Engineering from UAM-Spain, and a MsC in Management of Technology from MIT-Sloan.

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