Intesa Sanpaolo plans to launch Isybank, its new digital bank

Alongside competing with fintech, Isybank’s key objectives are to change the operating model of the Italian bank, target international growth and create a new platform for all the group’s personal clients.

Intesa Sanpaolo has selected Thought Machine, a UK-based core banking technology company, to power its new service. Isybank will initially target the group’s 4+ million customers who prefer digital channels to branches, and the aim is to gradually deploy Thought Machine’s cloud-based infrastructure to service Intesa Sanpaolo’s remaining nine million Italian retail clients, who will remain under the old brand.

As such, Intesa Sanpaolo is replacing its mainframe-based core technology with cloud infrastructure, investing €5bn in the bank's digital transformation, a move that will include hiring and reskilling 4,000 people.

A key element of the Intesa Sanpaolo’s digital transformation is machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). Placing technology as a core competence of Intesa Sanpaolo’s new business plan, is helping attract new people to Intesa Sanpaolo, which will continue to drive the business forward.

“Change is the engine of our business,” says Proverbio. “The level of excitement in our organisation was fantastic when the new industrial plan was published, and Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo said we are here to build the bank of the next 20 years.”