- The new service, known as ‘Santander One Pay FX’, makes it possible for customers to complete international transfers on the same day in many cases or by the next day.
- It is now available for retail customers in Spain from their online banking app or Supernet, and UK, Brazil and Poland, with the bank expecting to roll the service out across more countries in the coming months.
- As well as being faster, the service also shows customers the exact amount that will be received in the destination currency before they make the transfer.
Banco Santander today announced the launch of a new international payments service using blockchain-based technology. The service is available to retail customers in Spain, UK, Brazil and Poland, and will be rolled out across more countries in the coming months.
The new service, known as ‘Santander One Pay FX’, makes it possible for customers to complete international transfers on the same day in many cases or by the next day. The service also shows them the exact amount that will be received in the destination currency before they make the transfer.
The Bank will add more features in the coming months, including offering instant international payments in several markets before the summer, making it significantly faster than existing international payment services.
With the launch of the service, Santander will become the first bank to roll out a blockchain-based international payments service to retail customers in multiple countries simultaneously.
Ana Botín, Executive Chairman of Banco Santander, said: “One Pay FX uses blockchain-based technology to provide a fast, simple and secure way to transfer money internationally - offering value, transparency, and the trust and service customers expect from a bank like Santander. From today, customers in the UK can use One Pay to transfer money across Europe and to the US. In Spain, customers can transfer to the UK and US, while customers in Brazil and Poland can transfer to the UK. Transfers to Europe can be made on the same day and we are aiming to deliver instant transfers across several markets by the summer.
“Our goal is to help the thousands of people who use international payments services every day, and we will be adding more currencies and destinations in the coming months. Blockchain technology offers tremendous opportunities to improve the services we offer our customers, and the launch of Santander One Pay FX is the first of many potential applications."
Santander’s customers in the UK can download the One Pay FX app, users need to log on using their normal Santander mobile banking details and can then start to make payments. It connects to Apple Pay, where users can confirm payments securely using Touch or Face ID. It lets users transfer between £10 and £10,000, around the clock at any time of the day. Payments can be made from GBP to EUR and USD, currently, payments made in EUR can be sent to 21 countries and US Dollar payments to the USA, with more destination countries set to be added to the service in the future.
Santander’s customers in Spain can already use this service to do transfers to the United Kingdom and the U.S., which are the main destinations of retail money transfers in Spain, from the bank’s online banking app or Supernet. The launch of Santander One Pay FX is another example of how Santander is enhancing the customer experience through digitalization, in line with Digilosofía, the bank’s digital philosophy, which it is using to accelerate its digital transformation in Spain.
The new service uses xCurrent, a technology based on distributed ledgers owned by California-based Ripple. InnoVentures, Santander’s $200 million fintech venture capital fund, invested in Ripple in 2015. In total the fund has made over 20 investments in a range of financial technology startups focused on artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, payments, financial advisory, SME and automobile finance or mortgages.
- Ends -
The information contained in our press releases is intended solely for journalists and should not be used by consumers to make financial decisions.
Notes to Editors:
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 31 December 2017, the bank serves around 14 million active customers with c19,500 employees and operates through 806 branches (which includes 61 university branches) and 64 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.
About Us
Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC LN) is a leading retail and commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain. It has a meaningful market share in 10 core countries in Europe and the Americas, and is the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization. At the end of 2017, Banco Santander had EUR 986 billion in customer funds (deposits and mutual funds), 133 million customers, 13,700 branches and 200,000 employees. Banco Santander made attributable profit of EUR 6,619 million in 2017, an increase of 7% compared to the previous year.
Media Enquiries
Andy Smith T: 020 7756 4212 M: 07824 473 338 E: andy.g.smith@santander.co.uk
The press office operates from 8.00am to 6.00pm. Outside of these hours please call 0800 5877708.