BANCOMAT, the leading payment network in Italy: partnership between FSI
and key shareholding banks, to pursue a European growth project
Press release
August 7th, 2023 – Intesa Sanpaolo, Iccrea Banca, Banco BPM, BPER (jointly the “Subscribing Banks”), BANCOMAT and FSI signed a binding agreement (the “Agreement”) regarding FSI’s equity investment into BANCOMAT.
The Agreement provides for an investment of up to EUR 100 million by FSI in BANCOMAT, through a reserved capital increase, for a relevant minority interest in the company’s capital.
With 32 million active cards and 2.8 billion transactions per year, BANCOMAT is the leading payment and withdrawal network in Italy and the third largest domestic circuit by number of cards in Europe.
FSI investment enhances BANCOMAT competitive positioning as a digital infrastructure and a dynamic company with a strong focus on technological innovation. The Agreement envisages the adoption of a lean, service and customer-oriented corporate model.
The new partnership also allows other current and prospect BANCOMAT customers to participate to the governance and value creation plan of the company, in addition to the Subscribing Banks.
BANCOMAT, FSI and its main shareholder banks and customers have agreed the guidelines of a new industrial plan. The plan will strengthen BANCOMAT systemic role as a leading national digital payments network, thanks also to the support and consolidated European expertise of NEXI as strategic partner for the development of the circuit technological platform.
The industrial plan will envisage the following key pillars:
- a) Innovation, with product and service offer extension, starting from online and wallet;
- b) New technological architecture, to increase efficiency and speed of new projects execution;
- c) Development of value-added services (VAS) for client banks and end-users, also in adjacent and synergic segments;
- d) M&A, through the acquisitions of companies with specific vertical digital know-how.
Through the partnership and its strong brand recognition, BANCOMAT will pursue key strategic institutional objectives, in line with major European domestic networks:
- i. Accelerating the development of digital payments;
- ii. Providing payment services at competitive costs for client banks and merchants;
- iii. Continuing to invest in services and data security;
- iv. Participating in the European consolidation of the industry.
BANCOMAT’s growth project will leverage the support of both its main shareholder banks and FSI: in recent years the FSI team has gained significant experience in the fintech sector, having successfully invested around EUR 1 billion in Italy in several companies.
The transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant authorities and other conditions precedent as customary for this type of transactions.
BANCOMAT and the Subscribing Banks were advised by Mediobanca-Banca di Credito Finanziario S.p.A., Studio Legale Gattai, Minoli, Partners, Join Business Management Consulting, PwC Strategy& and Prof. Avv. Salvatore Maccarone.
FSI was advised by WePartner, Studio Legale Pedersoli, KPMG, Studio Biscozzi Nobili Piazza and CMC Labs.
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BANCOMAT S.p.A. (www.bancomat.it) has been operating the most diffused and well-known withdrawal and payment circuits in Italy for 40 years, identified by the BANCOMAT®, PagoBANCOMAT® and BANCOMAT Pay® brands. It is one of the main and most important players in the debit card payment market in Italy, with more than 2.8 billion payment and withdrawal transactions worth about EUR 225 billion on an annual basis and about 32 million active cards. It is owned by 113 Italian banks, which are part of the more than 400 payment service providers that use its services..
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FSI (www.fondofsi.it) is a leading Italian institutional investor with over EUR 2 billion in growth capital, raised from major Italian, international and institutional investors. FSI’s investment policy focuses on investments in partnership with Italian institutions, entrepreneurs, and families. With its investments, FSI pursues value creation objectives through organic growth, acquisitions, and sector consolidation.
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Intesa San Paolo (www.intesasanpaolo.com) is the largest banking group in Italy – a point of reference for families, businesses and the real economy – with a significant international presence. Intesa Sanpaolo’s distinctive business model makes it a European leader in Wealth Management, Protection & Advisory and characterises its strong digital and fintech orientation, in particular with Isybank, the Group’s digital bank. An efficient and resilient bank, it is the parent company of product factories in asset management and insurance. Intesa Sanpaolo’s strong commitment to ESG includes, by 2025, EUR 115 billion of impact financing, earmarked for the community and the green transition, and contributions of EUR 500 million to support people in need, positioning Intesa Sanpaolo as one of the world’s leaders in terms of social impact. Intesa Sanpaolo has made Net Zero commitments for its emissions by 2030 and by 2050 for its loan and investment portfolios, asset management and insurance business. A strong supporter of Italian culture, it has developed a museum network, Le Gallerie d’Italia, which showcases the bank’s artistic heritage and artistic projects of recognised value.
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Iccrea Banca (www.iccreabanca.it) is the largest cooperative banking group, the fourth largest in Italy in terms of assets, the second largest in terms of number of branches in Italy and the only national banking group with wholly Italian capital. The BCC Iccrea Group, with assets of EUR 171.5 billion (as at 31 March 2023), is today made up of 117 Cooperative Credit Banks, present in over 1,700 Italian municipalities with almost 2,500 branches, and other banking, financial and instrumental companies controlled by BCC Banca Iccrea. As at 31 March 2023, the BCCs of the Group had realised 90 billion euros in net loans and direct customer deposits of about 129 billion euros throughout Italy, with over 5 million customers and about 850 thousand members. The BCC Iccrea Group is among the best banking groups for capital quality with a CET 1 Ratio of 19.3% (data as at 31 March 2023).
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Banco BPM (www.bancobpm.it) was born in 2017 from the merger of Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano. It serves 4 million customers through an extensive and complementary network and a distribution model where innovation and sustainability are among the main founding elements. The territorial presence, which benefits from a strategic position in Northern Italy, makes Banco BPM a national leader in several high value-added business sectors, with a portfolio of highly recognised brands and cross-selling opportunities between product factories.
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BPER (www.bper.it) is the parent company of the BPER Banca Group, which includes two territorial banks (BPER Banca and Banco di Sardegna) with approximately 1,800 branches covering all Italian regions, with over 20 thousand employees and more than 5 million customers.
It is the third-largest listed banking group in Italy in terms of global funding and includes, in addition to credit institutions, numerous product and instrumental companies. The Bank’s distribution structure on the peninsula today comprises 10 Territorial Offices. BPER operates through investee companies or joint ventures in all the main market segments (corporate & investment banking, wealth management & insurance, leasing, factoring and consumer credit) and is able to offer, thanks to a solid network of shareholdings and partnerships, qualified assistance to its customers on all the main international markets.
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NEXI (www.nexigroup.com) is Europe’s PayTech company operating in high-growth, attractive European markets and technologically advanced countries. Listed on Euronext Milan, Nexi has the scale, geographic reach and abilities to drive the transition to a cashless Europe. With its portfolio of innovative products, e-commerce expertise and industry-specific solutions, Nexi provides flexible support for the digital economy and the entire payment ecosystem globally, across a broad range of different payment channels and methods. Nexi’s technological platform and the best-in-class professional skills in the sector enable the company to operate at its best in three market segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuing Solutions and Digital Banking Solutions. Nexi constantly invests in technology and innovation, focusing on two fundamental principles: meeting, together with its partner banks, customer needs and creating new business opportunities for them.
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