Elavon, the credit card processing arm of the United States Bancorp, has announced that it had entered into an alliance with Banco Santander SA’s Mexican subsidiary to increase in Mexico’s fast growing card market.

However, no further information was disclosed on terms of the transaction.

In the meantime, Elavon already has grouping with Santander in other markets like Britain, the United States and Puerto Rico.

Mexican banking institutions scaled back credit card lending starting in 2008 after customer defaults surged as the country tipped into its worst economic slump since the 1930s.

However, bankers have expressed their hopes that they are getting ready to resume lending growth even though consumer lending is expected to remain slow amid a slow recovery in employment levels.