Rating: better grades every time

In 2017, Bankinter demonstrated a high capacity to meet the financial commitments it had acquired. This is shown by the improvement in the rating given by two of the world's most important credit rating agencies, which facilitates its deposit taking capacity and puts the Bank in a privileged position in the market in relation to its size.

The changes in the Bank's ratings in 2017 were as follows:

• In February, Standard & Poor’s raised Bankinter’s long-term credit rating by one notch, from BBB- to BBB, and raised the short-term rating from A3 to A2, maintaining the outlook of both ratings as ‘positive’. The agency largely based these decisions on Bankinter's improved liquidity profile and its reduced reliance on short-term wholesale funding. The ‘positive’ outlook opens up the possibility of an improvement in the rating over the next 12 to 24 months, depending on the economic situation in Spain and the Bank consolidating its level of capital.
• In July, the credit rating agency, DBRS Ratings Limited, upgraded Bankinter’s issuer rating and senior unsecured long-term debt and deposits rating from BBB (high) to A (low). It also confirmed the bank’s short-term debt and deposit rating of R-1 (low). DBRS awarded these ratings a ‘stable’ outlook. In its view, Bankinter is ‘well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the improving economic environment’ and ‘strengthen’ its position in Spain, ‘whilst at the same time maintaining its yield and good asset quality among Spanish banks’.