Global banking leader Santander announced today the spinoff of their merchant payment business, Getnet Brazil. Beginning October 18th, Getnet will be listed on the B3 Exchange in Brazil, and on the Nasdaq beginning Oct 22nd. Santander sees the spinoff as the first step toward building Getnet into a global merchant acquiring business. Already the 3rd largest acquirer in Brazil and number one in eCommerce processing, Getnet is planning a major expansion through the LatAm regions, into the UK, and eventually the North American markets. Getnet has doubled its market share in Brazil in just 5 years, and today services more than 1.2 million merchants in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and parts of Europe.
The spin-off of Getnet Brazil, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Santander Brazil, is part of Santander Group’s plans to create a global merchant acquiring franchise under the Getnet brand as part of PagoNxt – a technology-focused global payment fintech fully owned by Santander to integrate the bank’s most innovative and disruptive payments franchises.
Pedro Coutinho, CEO of Getnet Brazil, said: “This strategic step will enable Getnet Brazil to unlock the full potential of its businesses as part of PagoNxt. Getnet Brazil will be part of a global platform, where we will leverage key capabilities, products, value added services and state-of-the-art platform technology and architecture.”
What we find interesting here is that Santander is not divesting its ownership of Getnet, simply rolling it out from under the Santander Bank brand. In today’s red hot payments markets, fintechs that are bringing innovative and disruptive technology to the payments field are valued at much higher multiples that traditional banks, who are largely seen as legacy firms with sunsetting technology. Getnet will become part of PagoNxt, a a technology-focused global payment fintech fully owned by Santander to integrate the bank’s most innovative and disruptive payments franchises.
Javier San Felix, CEO of PagoNxt, said: “…Getnet is an outstanding franchise and has gained significant market share in Brazil in the last five years. By bringing Getnet Brazil together with our global payments businesses, we can leverage the group’s scale, further improving the services we offer to customers and creating value for shareholders.”
Overview by Don Apgar, Director, Merchant Services Advisory Practice at Mercator Advisory Group