«We want to be one of the three champion banks of Europe»- Corriere.it

Announced at the presentation of the new business plan in February 2022, after just over a year Isybank, the new digital bank of Intesa Sanpaolo, sees the light and a new home. And thus sanctions the institute’s entry into the fintech world. This novelty represents a strength for Italy, the demonstration that in this country we know how to do excellent things on a global level. You grow with technology, not with m&a, greeted the CEO of Ca’ de Sass Carlo Messina. Having built this bank represents an indisputable point for Intesa and something that our country must be proud of: when Italians do something, they know how to do it better than everyone else in Europe. Isybank – which does not affect the presence of the credit institution in the territories, as recalled by Stefano Barrese, head of the Banca dei Territori Division – will be led by Antonio Valitutti and is aimed at the 4 million customers of Intesa Sanpaolo who do not already use the branches in as mainly digital users of banking and mobile banking services. Today there are 12.3 million multi-channel customers of the group, of which 8.3 million use the Intesa Sanpaolo Mobile app.

How does it work

The new Isybank app will be available from today Thursday 15 June in the iOS and Android versions: you open an account by choosing from three profiles and then it will be possible to make all the main payments, from top-ups, to transfers, to car tax, to the most common tax payments such as the F24 as well as paying online and in shops with a digital card. We are a Fintech with the soul of a bank, specified the CEO Valitutti. The investment for the new company amounts to 650 million euros, drawn on the 5 billion allocated by the 2022-25 strategic plan for technology and digital, areas that will employ 2,000 of the 4,000 new hires. To date there are already 400 specialists dedicated to the new digital bank. Isybank – which makes use of the partnership with Thought Machine and Google – will have its home in the Scheggia di Vetro building in Milan, the former UBI headquarters in Porta Nuova, together with Fideuram and the insurance company.

emerge in Europe

Innovation must be useful and we have a special structure that does three things – explains Paola Papanicolau, head of the Intesa Transformation Coordination Area -: observes emerging market trends, studies new companies and emerging businesses and then new technologies in the user experience, cybersecurity and Ai. With the establishment of Isybank, Intesa Sanpaolo actually began its fin-techization journey. We are an undisputed leading European bank and we want to continue to be one of the three champion banks of Europe in the next ten years as well, remarked Messina, specifying that this is not achieved through acquisitions of other banks, but through technology. According to Messina, technology will be a dominant factor on the market, also in terms of stock market value. Europe and its banking regulation were the other topic touched upon by the CEO of Intesa, on the day of the Eurotower meeting to decide the next steps in monetary policy. I do not have a negative opinion on the path of the ECB in recent years in relation to interest rates. We are in a world that will never return to zero interest rates. The path facing the ECB already today leads us to imagine a further increase of 50 basis points. Then, if inflation returns to reasonable levels there may be a path that leads to lower interest rates.