Joint Venture Delivers Santander’s Brand and Elavon’s Technology
Innovation and Investments to Spanish Businesses
Elavon, a leading global payments provider, and Banco Santander, an
international financial institution operating in 10 major markets with
more than 100 million clients serviced by 15,000 branches, today confirm
the establishment of a joint venture (JV) relationship in Spain,
originally announced and proposed for regulatory approval in October
2012. Elavon is a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB).
The agreement establishes the JV, Santander Elavon Merchant Services,
51% of which will belong to Elavon and the remaining 49% to Santander.
Assuming responsibility for Santander’s existing merchant customers and
leveraging the bank’s extensive branch network to source new business,
the JV’s specialized teams will provide service, support and innovative
solutions informed by voice of the customer and designed to enable
commerce for businesses of all sizes.
Juan Golmayo, named CEO of the JV, will lead the organization’s efforts
and has over 20 years experience in the cards industry. Juan comes to
the JV from Iberia Cards, a leading card issuer in Spain, owned by
Iberia, the Spanish leading airline, Banco Popular, BBVA and Bankia.
The JV is positioned to build for success, together with the backing of
Santander’s respected brand and Elavon’s award-winning International
Processing Platform and IP Gateway, recognized as the Best Merchant
Acquiring Initiative by the Cards & Payments Awards in 2012.
“Santander Elavon Merchant Services will deliver great benefits to
business customers of all sizes across Spain, and Juan’s ability to
deliver on this opportunity is proven in the marketplace,” said Simon
Haslam, President of International Markets for Elavon. “From providing
global accounts with a single source provider across their portfolio, to
addressing the needs of small business customers, this JV leverages the
best that both Santander and Elavon offer,” Haslam said.
The new JV extends an existing relationship between Elavon and Santander
dating from 2003 when the companies launched foreign currency payment
services for Spanish retailers. It also further strengthens alliance
relationships between the two companies in the United Kingdom, Poland,
Mexico and Puerto Rico.
“We have enjoyed working with Elavon since 2003 and have found our
relationship to be mutually beneficial in every market we work in
together,” said Enrique Garcia Candelas, Senior Executive Vice President
of Commercial Banking, Santander - Spain. “This JV is yet another
example of how we work together to bring the best value to customers in
the markets we serve.”
About Elavon (www.elavon.com):
Elavon’s Global Acquiring Solutions organization provides end-to-end
payment processing services to more than one million merchants in the
United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Brazil. Elavon
markets solutions including credit and debit card processing, electronic
check services, gift cards, dynamic currency conversion, multi-currency
support, and cross-border acquiring through multiple alliance channels
including financial institutions, trade associations and third party
sales agents. Elavon’s suite of solutions is tailored to meet the needs
of merchants in specialized markets such as small business, retail,
hospitality/T&E, health care, education and the public sector. European
activities are conducted through Elavon Financial Services Limited, an
Irish registered bank headquartered in Dublin, which is a wholly owned
subsidiary within the U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) group of companies.
About U.S. Bancorp (www.usbank.com):
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with $354 billion in assets as of December
31, 2012, is the parent company of U.S. Bank, the 5th largest commercial
bank in the United States. The Company operates 3,084 banking offices in
25 states and 5,065 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking,
brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services
products to consumers, businesses and institutions.
About Banco Santander: Banco Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N, BNC.LN) is
a retail and commercial bank, based in Spain, with a presence in 10 main
markets. Santander is the largest bank in the euro zone by market
capitalization. Founded in 1857, Santander had EUR 1.388 trillion in
managed funds, 102 million customers, 14,392 branches - more than any
other international bank - and 187,000 employees at the close of 2012.
It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America. It also
has significant positions in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany,
Poland and the northeast United States. Santander had a pre-provision
profit of EUR 23.559 billion in 2012, an increase of 2% from the
previous year.
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