Global: Bank of Italy Monitors Intesa Sanpaolo’s Digital Migration After Customer Concerns

Italy’s central bank, the Bank of Italy, is closely monitoring Intesa Sanpaolo’s efforts to migrate a substantial number of its customers to the mobile-only service, Isybank, following customer complaints. This oversight was confirmed by Parliament Minister Luca Ciriani during a session with lawmakers on Wednesday.

The Bank of Italy’s proactive involvement comes in response to appeals by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s political party, which demanded that the Treasury safeguard Intesa customers’ rights, enabling them to opt out of what politicians characterized as a “forced migration” to the new digital platform.

Isybank is a cloud-based, cost-effective mobile banking solution that plays a central role in Intesa CEO Carlo Messina’s long-term strategy to enhance the bank’s competitive edge against fintech challengers. The strategy focuses on cost reduction and reassigning the efforts of costly branch staff to value-added wealth management and non-life insurance services.

Intesa’s target is to migrate roughly 4 million customers who generate approximately €200 million ($211 million) in annual revenues. This shift away from traditional branches toward digital services is expected to enhance profitability.

The migration commenced after the June launch of Isybank, with approximately 300,000 customers being moved this week, according to lawmakers’ questions in Parliament.

Concerns raised by lawmakers primarily revolve around the method and timing of the digital migration and the change in account identification codes, which poses a potential risk of disrupting payments.

The announcement of the forced migration in June and July resulted in customer protests and multiple complaints filed by consumer associations. As a result, lawmakers expressed their dissatisfaction with the process, underscoring the erosion of trust between banks and customers.

This development unfolds in the context of other initiatives by Meloni’s coalition, including a surprise windfall tax on banks and proposals to grant borrowers the right to settle bad debt at a discounted rate. While Italy has reversed these proposals, investor confidence has been negatively impacted.

Speaking in Parliament on this matter, Ciriani explained that the Bank of Italy had received “several complaints” related to the migration. In response, the central bank asked Intesa to confirm that customers had received adequate notice and were provided with the choice to remain with their existing banking services.

Ciriani concluded that the Bank of Italy had received sufficient reassurances from Intesa and would continue to oversee the migration operation.