Banco Santander to acquire technology assets from Wirecard

By Megha Bhattacharya

Banco Santander recently announced that it will be acquiring specialised technological assets from the merchant payments business of Wirecard in Europe for speeding up growth plans across the region. The acquisition will see around 500 employees, managing the concerned assets, join Santander and become a part of the company’s global merchant services team under the umbrella of the Getnet global franchise.

Ana Botín, Banco Santander executive chairman, said, “At Santander, we aim to provide the best payment solutions and services to our customers. The assets and talent we will gain as part of the acquisition will help us accelerate Getnet’s expansion plans in Europe, while also increasing our product development capacity.”

According to Santander, the acquisition is expected to accelerate Getnet’s expansion in Europe and extend the former’s open payments platform architecture. The acquired assets include payment solutions for merchants for acquiring and issuance services.

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year and is subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approvals. Until closing date, Wirecard and Santander will jointly work to ensure current customers, vendors and partners a smooth transition to this new phase of the Wirecard service.

Recently, Santander announced its intention to bring together Getnet for the creation of PagoNxt and focus on accelerating growth in three business areas: merchant solutions; trade solutions for SMEs which trade internationally and want services once only accessible to corporates; and consumer digital products and services.

Santander UK also teamed up with Personetics for facilitating the launch of a new digital solution called ‘My Money Manager’. The solution will be integrated into the Bank’s mobile banking app and will offer financial tips, personalised spending insights as well as upcoming financial commitments through push notifications.