Banco Santander has signed a contract with Accenture to enable
it to integrate IT systems from the various banks it has acquired,
including Royal Bank of Scotland`s European consumer finance unit
and Alliance & Leicester.
The two-year, €100m agreement will see Accenture support the
bank`s global operations by providing systems integration,
consulting, business process management, information technology
outsourcing and business process outsourcing.
Accenture will also develop and implement strategic initiatives
relating to Santander`s operations in Spain, Portugal, the United
Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
Banco Santander's core banking platform called
Partenon, has played a key role in helping the Spanish bank's
acquisition strategy.
Speaking to Computer Weekly, Ralph Silva, an analyst at
Towergroup, said Partenon puts Santander in a strong position, "It
is likely it will continue on this acquisition spree. Partenon
could be a differentiator because it gives Santander the ability to
more easily and more quickly integrate acquisitions," he said.