Santander is the euro zone’s second-largest bank by market value. PagoNxt, would start to serve customers in 30 countries in Europe under the Getnet brand. The initiative is part of a wider strategy aimed at boosting the bank’s revenues at a moment when European lenders are struggling with pressure. This is from low interest rates while trying to fend off competition from technology firms.
Getnet is part of PagoNxt which is a fintech that handles the bank’s payments businesses. Bank executives said that Santander is expected to triple revenues in its payments business PagoNxt to around 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in the next few years. The Spanish bank plans to build its platform on the bank’s 150 million clients and 60 million active cards to take advantage of the significant revenue growth from payment businesses. Santander grouped its consumer, merchant and trade payments businesses into PagoNxt in September, which is in an attempt to build a financial technology brand. Late last year, it bought technology assets from collapsed German firm Wirecard to boost its European payments business.
Getnet, which is already present in Spain and Portugal, has operational headquarters and technology hubs in Munich, Madrid, Dubai and Chennai, India. It has 1.1 million clients and processed 90 billion euros in some four billion payments in 2020. It is e-commerce leader in Brazil, where it plans to spin-off and list GetNet by the end of the year. It also offers services in Mexico, Chile, Argentina and, soon, in Uruguay.
