LONDON (Alliance News) - Spanish lender Banco Santander and US e-commerce company eBay Inc have agreed a lending partnership in the UK, the Financial Times reported Monday.
Asto, a fintech app owned by Santander, will offer loans to 200,000 UK small and medium-sized enterprises that sell products using eBay.
According to the FT, Asto will use eBay's data on sales and cash flow to identify prospective customers.
The two companies are hoping the partnership can fend off younger rivals.
https://www.ft.com/content/661334ac-83b4-11e9-b592-5fe435b57a3b?segmentId=080b04f5-af92-ae6f-0513-095d44fb3577
A couple of weeks ago, Santander reported a decrease in first quarter profit due to restructuring charges in the UK and losses made in its Spanish home market.
In the three months to March 31, the lender saw its attributable profit slip 10% to EUR1.84 billion. Banco Santander's pretax profit was flat at EUR3.68 billion.
Total income was down 1% on the year before at EUR12.09 billion. Net operating income was also down 1%, slipping to EUR6.33 billion.
Banco Santander (BNC)