Banco Santander’s payment fintech, PagoNxt, is launching its merchant payments business in Europe under the Getnet brand.
Getnet, which operates in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and soon in Uruguay, has the third highest customer base and turnover among merchant payment firms in Latin America, counting 1.1 million clients. The business processed €90 billion in some four billion payments in 2020.
The service is already available in Banco Santander's home market Spain, and also in Protugal.
Javier San Félix, chief operations officer at PagoNxt, says the acquisition of of Wirecard's assets earlier this year has allowed PagoNxt to bring forward its plans and launch Getnet in Europe on a vastly accelerated timetable.
“The global roll out of Getnet is ahead of plan and will allow us to offer the best possible services to our customers," he says. "Our goal is to help customers across Europe and the Americas to grow their business by making payments easier and more secure, using the best technologies available.”
Getnet has over 2,300 employees worldwide. Around 600 are in Europe, where it is looking to increase its headcount by 20% to further its growth strategy.
In Europe, Getnet will serve customers in some 30 countries, with its main offices in Madrid and Munich.
Initially covering online payments for large e-commerce retailers the business will undertake a phased expansion to include over-the-counter and other types of payments.