Santander lines up portfolio company Ebury to support German SMEs

Two years after making an equity investment in Ebury, banking giant Santander is turning to the fintech to roll out a competitive trade finance offer for small German businesses.

Santander said the partnership will result in clients being approved for Ebury’s trade finance in as little as 24 hours due to the data sharing between the two.

Ebury offers tech solutions to help cross-border transactions between international businesses, including FX hedging and collection accounts, all of which will be combined with Santander’s expertise in lending and transactions.

“Combining forces will allow clients to benefit from Ebury’s agility as a fintech and its specialist international transaction services alongside Santander’s significant lending capabilities,” said Nils Hennemann, Ebury’s country manager of Germany.

“Together, we expect this to be the start of a deep and enduring partnership and we are already looking at additional ways of supporting SMEs in Germany and delivering a superior customer experience via this partnership.”

Ebury has a history of strong partnerships, working with MarketFinance last year to deliver Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme loans to its customers using MarketFinance’s funding.

In 2019 Santander invested a huge £350m in order to secure a 50.1 per cent stake in Ebury, buying out several of its existing investors.

The Santander investment included £70m in new primary equity which was used to fund Ebury’s expansion into Latin America and Asia.

“Banco Santander’s investment via PagoNxt in Ebury last year is evidence of the potential we see from harnessing the abilities of traditional banks and best-in-class fintechs,” said Santander Germany’s head of business and corporate banking, Peter Stindt.

“This partnership is a concrete example of how bringing our joint propositions together ensures that businesses have the best possible chance of success and growth in their trading activities.”