Just days after reaching a deal with Apple, Santander is now negotiating a partnership with Amazon on consumer finance across Europe
Banco Santander SA is moving to sign a deal with Amazon.com Inc that will see the Spanish bank offer financing options across Europe to buyers from the e-commerce giant.
People familiar with the matter said negotiations are at an advanced stage and an agreement could be reached soon. The plan is to launch the consumer finance partnership in Germany first and then expand it to other European countries, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing personal information. .
Representatives for Santander and Amazon declined to comment.
Santander has vowed to grow its digital consumer finance business, which accounted for about 10% of the group’s revenue last year. One pillar of that strategy is signing “leading deals with major global technology companies,” the lender said in its latest annual report.
Such partnerships often mean that buyers receive an offer of a consumer loan to finance their purchase as they prepare to pay at an online store, giving banks a channel direct sales. Retail companies also benefit because partnerships allow their customers to make purchases they might not otherwise be able to afford.
Santander’s Amazon deal would follow an agreement reached with Apple Inc last week to offer digital consumer financing to buyers of the tech company’s products in Germany. The Amazon partnership is expected to yield larger revenue increases than the deal with Apple, the people said.
