Intesa Sanpaolo

Italy’s largest banking group, Intesa Sanpaolo, planned a four-year vision for the evolution of their organisation. This wide-ranging plan covered cost reduction, technology modernisation, customer experience and more. Intesa Sanpaolo sought a technology partner – in the truest sense of the word – a core banking vendor that had the technology credentials, the experience of working with Tier 1 banks, and the right architecture to be a close partner over the years ahead and truly modernise their service.  

We have a central role in Intesa Sanpaolo’s 2022-2025 Business Plan. We have been selected to provide core banking technology for Intesa’s newly announced digital bank: Isybank. A new, digital greenfield, targeting Intesa Sanpaolo’s digital-savvy customers, many of whom never visit a bank branch. Intesa Sanpaolo needed a technology vendor who could provide all of the required features, have a high level of self-service, configurability for the future, and technology which could eventually be incorporated into the bank’s broader technology stack.

The Italian banking landscape is dominated by a handful of large, highly capitalised, and successful incumbent banks. These incumbents have been in situ for decades, if not longer – providing the familiar, trusted banking services that Italians use every day. All of these banks, however, share a common challenge – outdated technology at the core of their stack which limits their functionality and growth.

Intesa Sanpaolo, one of the first major banks in Italy to recognise and act on this looming issue, outlined decisive plans in their four-year business plan – committing to adopt Thought Machine’s core banking technology, Vault Core, as the foundation layer for their new digital greenfield Isybank. 

Intesa Sanpaolo has a bold vision – to optimise their traditional bank offering, and make an even better bank for their 13.5m Italian customers. They want to reduce their costs, improve core profitability, and offer a new proposition for their ‘digital native’ customers.

Intesa Sanpaolo rightly identified that a significant portion of the bank’s customers rarely, if ever, visit a bank branch – optimising physical banking experiences would not be appropriate. A new entity had to be designed and developed for this customer segment. This new bank will be going live in 2022 – on Thought Machine’s core technology. 

Our cloud-native platform will be the core engine for Isybank – an initiative that expects €650m in investment over the years to bolster its capabilities and reach. In particular, Vault Core was selected for its ability to handle multiple asset classes and denominations – a necessary feature for Intesa Sanpaolo’s multinational, overseas customers who will be regularly transacting across borders. 

While the project is still early – there are indications that Intesa Sanpaolo has bigger plans for Vault Core. The bank made a £40m investment into Thought Machine and has become an investor into the business, demonstrating their commitment to our long-term project. 

Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina spoke positively about Thought Machine’s application into the bank’s wider technology portfolio over the coming years, and its potential to serve an expanded range of clients, including private, wealth, and affluent banking customers – beyond the initial mass-market retail segment.