The Group has stipulated
partnership agreements in a variety of business areas in order to strengthen the performance and operations of local BCCs.
Bancassurance
Between September and November 2023 the parent company BCC Banca Iccrea entered into two strategic bancassurance partnerships in the non-life and life segments respectively with Assimoco and Cardif (a BNP Paribas Group company). The agreement specifically provides for Assimoco’s purchase of 51% of BCC Assicurazioni and BNP Paribas Cardif’s acquisition of 51% of BCC Vita. Upon the achievement of specific performance indicators, it will also be possible to extend the duration of the partnerships to a total of 15 years and to increase their current stakes by a further 19%.
BlackRock
In July 2020, in order to strengthen BCC Risparmio & Previdenza's role as an investment centre to support BCCs and provide them with an even more complete and customised offer, a technological and commercial collaboration agreement was signed with
BlackRock, enabling the Group's asset management company to leverage BlackRock's Aladdin Wealth advisory platform in the management of investment portfolios and an advanced financial advisory module. At the commercial level, the Group's BCCs were able to expand on existing solutions already available to its customers, such as UCITS funds (European regulated investment funds), adding new investment services such as ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), illiquid products and, more generally, access to the global portfolio that the US asset manager offers in its various areas of expertise. Finally, the agreement provided for BlackRock to work alongside BCC Risparmio&Previdenza and all the Group's BCCs in the training of consultants, in order to improve the managers' skills in the area and their advisory services to customers.
Pitagora
In May 2021 a strategic partnership was made official between Iccrea Banca, Banca di Asti and Bonino 1934 for the purchase by Iccrea Banca of a 9.9% stake in the share capital of
Pitagora, one of Italy’s top players in the salary-backed loan sector, with the aim of increasing the operations of the Group's BCCs in the consumer credit sector. The transaction was part of a broader long-term commercial partnership agreement signed on 23 December 2020 and operational from early 2021 between Pitagora and BCC CreditoConsumo (a Group company specialised in offering personalised loans for households) aimed at the distribution of Pitagora's salary-backed loan products through the Group’s network of BCC branches.
In November 2024, following the exercise of the purchase option, Iccrea Banca increased its stake in Pitagora's capital to 20%.
The commercial agreements between Pitagora and BCC Credito Consumo for the offer of loans dedicated to households were also extended until 31 December 2028.
H-benchmark
In February 2020, Iccrea Banca acquired a 10% stake in the share capital of
H-benchmark, a company based in Altavilla Vicentina that runs an innovative platform for the acquisition, aggregation and benchmarking of performance indicators for the hospitality industry, launched in 2016 based on the experience of the Develon Group's Tech R&D Team. Already active in the tourism sector with a project dedicated to local businesses called “In Tour - Innovative Tourism”, Iccrea Banca chose to enter the capital of H-benchmark in order to support a major partner and to be able to offer its BCCs new and more innovative tools to interact with its customers involved in the business of lodging facilities.
Numia
On 31 January 2022, Iccrea Banca and FSI signed a strategic partnership aimed at the development of BCC Pay, the BCC Iccrea Group's e-money company with about 4 million payment cards, more than 200,000 POSs and about €50 billion in transacted business.
The agreement called for FSI's investment in BCC Pay. After the closing of the deal in August 2022, FSI and Iccrea Banca respectively held 60% and 40% of the company. In total, the transaction was valued at up to €500 million (including a deferred component of up to €50 million).L’operazione, complessivamente, ha previsto una valorizzazione fino a euro 500 milioni di euro (inclusiva di una componente differita fino 50 milioni di euro).
In July 2023, Banco BPM, BCC Iccrea Group and FSI entered into an agreement for the establishment of a strategic partnership aimed at developing a new independent Italian business in the digital payments sector, a point of reference in the fintech landscape with an approach oriented towards innovation and the growth of digitisation in our country.
The agreement envisaged the contribution of Banco BPM's e-money operations to the joint venture, with a mixed consideration in cash and in shares issued by the Pay Holding vehicle, which in turn controls the entire capital of BCC Pay. Upon completion of the transaction, about 43% of Pay Holding was owned by FSI, and about 28.6% each by Banco BPM and BCC Banca Iccrea.
With the contribution of Banco BPM's e-money business, the joint venture has become the country’s second largest player with a market share of more than 10% in the e-money sector, with about 9 million cards, 400,000 POSs and around €110 billion in intermediated transactions.
