CORPORATE | 07.06.2020
Santander and MAPFRE to jointly distribute Non-Life insurance in Portugal
Through the Santander network in Portugal, the bank will be the exclusive distributor of MAPFRE’s automobile, SME multirisk and third-party liability insurance.
Banco Santander and MAPFRE today announced a new agreement that will see the reach of their bancassurance alliance extend across the whole of the Iberian peninsula. The financial institution will be the exclusive distributor of MAPFRE’s automobile, SME multirisk and third-party liability insurance in Portugal until December 2037. MAPFRE will now hold 50.01 percent of the joint insurance venture in the country, with Banco Santander owning the remaining 49.99 percent.
Following the bancassurance agreement signed in January last year, Spain’s leading bank and insurer agreed to strengthen their corporate relationship, looking at where they could implement similar agreements in other markets. This is the first materialization of that commitment. Alongside this agreement, MAPFRE Portugal Seguros de Vida will acquire 100 percent of a runoff Life Protection insurance portfolio currently owned by Santander Totta Seguros.
Pedro Castro e Almeida, CEO of Santander Portugal, stated that: “As a result of this collaboration with MAPFRE, we are significantly boosting what we can offer an increasingly demanding and informed customer base.”
José Manuel Inchausti, CEO of MAPFRE Iberia, said: “This agreement strengthens an alliance that is really building up a sizeable sales capacity. Santander’s points of sale in Portugal will enable us to significantly increase our capillarity in the Portuguese market.”
Santander Totta is the largest private bank in the Portuguese market and has won every major international prize in the Portuguese banking sector, as well as the biggest accolades in terms of reputation in the finance sector.
This new company, the creation of which is subject to approval by the competent authorities, will likely begin selling insurance during the fourth quarter of 2020.