London-based Ebury, which provides foreign exchange and currency services for SMEs, raises £350M led by Santander, which now owns 50.1% of total shares
As the UK continues on its slow march to leave the European Union, a London-based startup that enables companies to work internationally …
Context & Ripple Effects
Santander has been quietly assembling an SME-fintech portfolio rather than building one: earlier in 2019 it co-led MarketInvoice's £26M Series B and partnered with eBay to lend to SMBs through its Asto app. Taking 50.1% of Ebury is a step change — from minority investor to controlling owner of a foreign-exchange platform serving companies trading internationally.
The deal lands as London's cross-border payments startups are raising at scale on their own terms — TransferWise's $280M Series E two years prior set that template — so a bank choosing to buy majority control, rather than compete, is the notable move. The Brexit backdrop sharpens it: UK SMEs face more currency complexity, exactly Ebury's product.
First-order effects
- Santander moves from partner to majority shareholder, gaining control of Ebury's SME currency business while the £350M funds Ebury's expansion under new ownership.
Second-order effects
- Bank-backed rivals change the competitive math for independent players like TransferWise and Paysend, which now compete against incumbents that own the fintech layer instead of merely licensing or partnering with it.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — Santander's stakes in MarketInvoice, Asto's eBay lending tie-up, now a controlling Ebury position — European bank-fintech relations shift from competition and minority bets toward outright acquisition, consolidating SME financial tooling inside incumbent balance sheets.
The trend: European banks are moving from backing fintech challengers to acquiring controlling stakes in them, with cross-border SME finance as the first battleground.