Digital payments, the new Banco Bpm and Fsi hub launches the challenge to Nexi-Corriere.it

The ECB has just called a survey among European citizens to choose the graphics of the new banknotes. There are six candidate themes ranging from rivers to hands and birds. They will appear no earlier than 2026. By that date, what role will cash play in daily trading? Marginal, at least judging by the reshuffling taking place in cards and digital payments. True, in Italy two out of three purchases are still made in cash, one of the highest in Europe. The data lends itself to two interpretations. On the one hand, it testifies to a technological delay, sometimes motivated by tax evasion purposes. On the other hand, it means that there is enormous room for growth in the country for all companies active in the electronic transaction chain. Which recently found themselves against each other in the race for Banco Bpm’s money, the division that manages the issue of cards to customers and their acceptance as a payment instrument.

The Bpm-Fsi-Iccrea axis

The first two operators in Europe took part in the auction, the Italian Nexi and the French Wordline, both of which capitalize around 10 billion on the Stock Exchange. The match was won by Bcc Pay, a smaller but decidedly aggressive new competitor. The company controlled 60% by the FSI fund and 40% by Iccrea will pay Bpm up to 600 million, giving the business a much higher valuation than its rivals. According to rumors, the operation is partly financed by Bpm itself which, as a result of the deal, will hold a 28.6% stake in Bcc Pay, joining FSI (43%) and Iccrea (28.6%%), a group to which 117 CCBs adhere with almost 2,500 branches. The choice, which runs counter to those made over the years by other Italian institutions, has led experts to question Bpm’s strategic motivations, beyond the obvious objective of maximum collection.

Chestnut’s plans

According to some reconstructions, the agreement with FSI would also be part of CEO Giuseppe Castagna’s project to build a third credit center in the country, alongside Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit. From a defensive point of view, the migration of Bpm to a new payment platform would constitute a disincentive to possible hostile takeovers by other banks because it would hinder subsequent integration plans. In fact, the majority of Italian institutions rely on Nexi, while Bnl and Crdit Agricole have agreements with compatriot Wordline. From an offensive point of view, however, the Bpm-Iccrea-Fsi axis opens a crack in the duopoly that the three partners have every intention of widening. In fact, with the Bpm operation, Bcc Pay (which will soon change its name) becomes the second national operator after Nexi, with a market share of more than 10% in e-money, 9 million cards, 400 thousand Pos and 110 billion in transactions. Now the company will work to involve other medium and small Italian institutions in the project and will invest in the development of the offer, with a digital and fintech slant.

Arrighetti’s role in Bcc Pay

The chairmanship of Bcc Pay sits Massimo Arrighetti, architect of the growth of Sia, the payment engineering company several times close to being listed on the Stock Exchange and finally bought by Nexi. In short, Arrighetti is a highly experienced manager who will be able to help Bcc Pay in the creation of an alternative payment platform precisely to Nexi. Of course, the project with Bpm is not risk-free. Moving merchants from Nexi to the new operator will take time. The bank will be able to leverage the other contractual relationships with customers, but in the transfer some merchants could decide to change supplier of POS and other acceptance services, a scenario that would also be contemplated in the agreement with FSI.

Nexi and the interbank network

it is also probable that Nexi will not be a spectator of the rival’s programs, but will move to compete with her on pricing policies. The same payments giant is in fact in the midst of executing its industrial plan which provides, among other things, for the sale of the divisions not strictly related to digital payments. In this context, Nexi is reportedly evaluating the sale of the national interbank network, which connects the institutions of the country. The infrastructure would have aroused the interest of various funds including F2i, the manager participated among others by Cdp Equity, Intesa, Unicredit. This and other transfers would allow the company led by Paolo Bertoluzzo to free up resources to remunerate the shareholders and to proceed with new acquisitions, limiting recourse to debt leverage.

The role of the ion group

Therefore, new tenders with Worldline and FSI cannot be excluded, which for some time have been very active in the payments sector and, more generally, in the financial sector. In fact, he holds 9.5% of Anima Holding, a share that makes him the third largest shareholder of the savings manager after Poste and again Bpm. The fund then in the capital of Cerved and the banking software supplier Cedacri. Both operations were carried out in collaboration with Ion, the financial data group of Andrea Pignataro, who also became a 10% shareholder of FSI. Lastly, in April, the former Fondo Strategico Italiano reached an agreement with the shareholder banks of Bancomat to enter the capital of the national circuit with an investment of up to 100 million. In addition to simplifying governance, the operation aims to accelerate Bancomat’s growth abroad through interoperability agreements with other domestic networks. A plan that would enjoy the support of Intesa, while UniCredit seems less inclined to face large investments on the national circuit, having just started a global collaboration with Mastercard. In short, the puzzle of Italian payments has many pieces: it remains to be understood how they will fit together and what final design they will compose.

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