Spanish bank Banco Santander agreed to acquire a stake in a UK-based payments platform for £350m ($453m), as European banks hobbled by ultralow interest rates target growth areas.

Santander will purchase just over 50% of Ebury, according to company officials, a banking platform through which small and medium-size companies trade internationally. The acquisition is aimed at bolstering Santander’s global payments business and help the bank compete more broadly in trade finance, executive chair Ana Botín said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.