Santander is ramping up its digital push by becoming the second bank to launch a London-based incubator for financial technology start-ups, a year after it set up a $100 million venture fund to invest in the sector.

The Spanish bank, which is the eurozone's largest by market cap, has joined forces with mobile payments company Monitise to set up an incubator that will invest in and help build and grow fintech start-ups, the companies said on Wednesday in a joint statament about the new "fintech venture builder".