Digital Payments and the new Banco Bpm and Fsi hub raise the challenge for Nexi

The European Central Bank has just called for a survey among European citizens to choose drawings for new banknotes. There are six candidate themes ranging from rivers to hands and birds. It will not appear before 2026. By that date, what role will cash play in day trading? Marginal, at least through the adjustment that occurs in cards and digital payments. It is true that two out of three purchases in Italy are still made with cash, one of the highest rates 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 one hand, it means that there is a huge scope 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 funds from Banco Bpm, the division that manages issuing cards to customers and accepting them as a payment instrument.

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 are investing about $10 billion in the stock exchange. The match was won by Bcc Pay, a new smaller but decidedly aggressive competitor. The company controls 60% of the FSI fund and 40% of Iccrea will pay Bpm up to 600 million, which gives the company a much higher valuation than its competitors. According to rumors, the operation was funded in part by Bpm itself which, as a result of the deal, will own 28.6% of Bcc Pay shares, joining FSI (43%) and Iccrea (28.6%), a group that includes 117%. CCB is committed to nearly 2,500 branches. The choice, which is at odds with those made by other Italian institutions over the years, has made experts question Bpm’s strategic motives, beyond the obvious goal of maximizing earnings.

chestnut plans

According to some reconstructions, the agreement with FSI will be part of CEO Giuseppe Castagna’s project to build a third credit center in the country, together with Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit. From a defensive standpoint, Bpm’s transition to a new payment system would act as a disincentive to potential hostile takeovers by other banks as it would hinder subsequent integration plans. In fact, the majority of Italian institutes are based on Nexi, while Bnl and Credit Agricole have agreements with their compatriot Wordline. However, from an offensive point of view, the Bpm-Iccrea-Fsi axis opens a crack in the duopoly that the three partners intend to expand. In fact, with the Bpm operation, Bcc Pay (which will soon change its name) has become the second national operator after Nexi, with more than 10% market share in electronic money, 9 million cards, 400 thousand points of sale and 110 billion. in transactions. The company will now involve other Italian medium and small enterprises in the project and will invest in the development of the offer, with a digital and technical-financial orientation.

Arrighetti’s role in Bcc Pay

Massimo Arighetti, Chairman of Bcc Pay, heads up the growth architect of Sia, the payment engineering company that came close several times to being listed on the stock exchange and finally being bought by Nexi. In short, Arrighetti is a highly experienced manager who will be able to help Bcc Pay create an alternative payment platform specifically for Nexi. Of course, the project with Bpm is not without risk. It will take some time to transfer merchants from Nexi to the new operator. The bank will be able to benefit from other contractual relationships with clients, but in the process of transferring some dealers may decide to change the supplier of points of sale and other acceptance services, a scenario that will also be considered in the agreement with the FSI.

Nexi and the interbank network

It is also possible that Nexi will not be a bystander to a competitor’s software, but will move to compete with them on pricing policies. The payments giant itself is in fact in the midst of implementing its industrial plan that provides, among other things, for the sale of divisions not strictly related to digital payments. in this picture, Nexi is said to be evaluating the sale of the national interbank network, which connects state institutions. The infrastructure would have been of interest to several funds including F2i, and the manager was involved among others by Cdp Equity, Intesa and Unicredit. This transfer and other transfers will allow the company led by Paolo Bertoluzzo to free up resources to reward shareholders and move forward with new acquisitions, limiting the use of leverage.

The role of the ionic group

Therefore, new tenders cannot be ruled out with Worldline and FSI, which for some time have been very active in the payments sector and, more generally, in the financial sector. In fact, he owns 9.5% of Anima Holding, a stake that makes him the savings manager’s third largest shareholder after Poste and again Bpm. Then the fund was in the capital of Cerved and the supplier of banking software Cedacri. Both operations were carried out in collaboration with Ion, Andrea Pignataro’s financial data group, who also became a 10% shareholder in FSI. Finally, 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 investments amounting to 100 million. In addition to streamlining governance, the operation aims to accelerate Bancomat’s growth abroad through interoperability agreements with other domestic networks. A plan that will enjoy the backing of Intesa, while UniCredit seems less inclined to face major investments on the national circuit, having just begun a global collaboration with Mastercard. In short, the puzzle of Italian payments consists of many pieces: it remains to understand how they will fit together and what final design they will compose.

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