Bankinter's suppliers are...

Spanish or based in Spain.

Well-known companies or leaders in their business sectors.

In the majority of cases they are public or private limited companies, although selfemployed persons have occasionally been used on an ad hoc basis.

Bankinter's dealings with suppliers are governed by the procurement policy approved for the Group, and by internal regulations on ordering, contracting and paying for goods and services from third parties, the objective of which is to ensure compliance with a policy of transparency, free competition, equality, consistency, responsibility and savings in all actions, as well as to establish controls on the whole process. The basic elements of this process are:

Transparency

Bankinter manages its dealings with suppliers through a purchasing portal where suppliers can opt for the bidding processes in which they are interested.

Bankinter's dealings with its suppliers are based on equal opportunities for all, without privileged information passing hands. It is handled through a centralised purchasing portal where interested suppliers can register, indicate the products or services they can offer the Bank and show the certificates of quality they hold, as well as their reference customers.

Once they have registered, they can access the competitive bidding processes in which they are interested and which match the products and services they provide. All contracts are awarded in consultation with the areas of the Bank to whose requirements they respond, and technical aspects are evaluated as well as financial ones.

Over the course of 2014, Bankinter has continued to introduce improvements in the usability of the portal, , such as the possibility for suppliers to track their bids. This portal has now been in use for six years.

Bankinter has also developed a continuity plan to ensure the operation of the service provided by the supplier should any contingency arise in relation to the most critical services.

Control

Supervision of budgetary compliance by the Bank and its subsidiaries aims to optimise the resources that each area has available to it and constantly to seek ways of improving efficiency.

The department's essential mission is to control internal expense. In other words, to supervise compliance with the budget by the Bank and its subsidiaries (deviations from budget, control of invoices, etc.) It is also responsible for controlling company credit cards.

The work begins in the last quarter of the year, when a start is made on drawing up the budget for the following year. This budget is divided among expense officers based on various criteria such as the activity, the increase in indicators such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or an exceptional allocation for some ad hoc matter.

Once the centres and the expense officers have been informed of the budget, the monitoring task starts. In the event that any deviation arises, the area studies the type of action it can take to readjust it. It also performs a daily control of invoices. All invoices are checked before being sent to accounting, to make sure they conform to the budget allocated.

Approval

Supplier approval is the process whereby a company identifies the suppliers that are qualified to provide services or supply products to it. Bankinter does not no subject all its suppliers to this process, only those with the most significant billing volumes.

The process can be carried out through a variety of methods, including audits, product tests or questionnaires. In the case of Bankinter, it takes the form of questionnaires which include aspects relating to financial information and nonfinancial information such as the existence of Quality, Environmental or CSR Certificates.

Moreover, the Bank continues to include environmental clauses in all its contracts with suppliers and subcontractors in order to ensure compliance with the law in all activities contracted by the Bank.

Bankinter's objective for 2015 is to improve the approval questionnaires so that they can be answered by a greater number of suppliers.