Small and medium-sized enterprises are particularly vulnerable to the economic shocks that have buffeted the region in recent months. Any bank that serves these businesses needs to be acutely aware of the challenges they face and have deep experience across the region in how to deal with them.
“How can SMEs pass through price rises to customers? How can they re-price without losing customers?” asks Matías Sánchez, head of retail products Spain and Europe at Banco Santander, western Europe’s best bank for SMEs this year. "Many managers have no experience in this, so we are working close to them to give them clarity.
"We are serving more than two million SMEs across western Europe, and there are a lot of challenges. But we have the footprint to help people and can connect different markets.”
In its main market, Spain, Santander launched Financia&Go, the first fully digital factoring service for SMEs and the self-employed last year.
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