Banco Santander hires Accenture for IT integration

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.