"CresciBusiness": €5-billion plan to support small and very small enterprises

Intesa Sanpaolo is launching "CresciBusiness", a €5-billion plan to support artisans, shopkeepers and small hotel operators affected by rising energy and commodity prices and the effects of the international crisis, which includes:

• liquidity assistance and secured financing
• no commissions for one year on in-store POS micropayments up to €15
• waiver of POS and commercial credit card fees for one year
• discounts on insurance products and rental of business assets to contain operating costs.

CresciBusiness is designed to support the segment of Italian entrepreneurs that is at once the largest and most exposed to price increases in overcoming the crisis by helping them recover through digitalisation, sustainability and business development projects.

This initiative is in addition to the €30 billion already allocated to SMEs and households since the beginning of the year to combat high energy prices.

The project was shared with the main business associations of the craft, trade, services and tourism sectors, with which a memorandum of understanding was also signed.

In Italy, there are more than four million companies with fewer than ten employees: 95% of all industrial and service companies. They also have a very high weight in terms of employment: they employ around 7.3 million people, 43.8% of the total. They make up the largest class by size in Italy.

The new measures implemented by Intesa Sanpaolo for small and very small enterprises were illustrated during the conference "Small Enterprises in the New Economic Scenario. Intesa Sanpaolo's Interventions and Proposals for Artisans, Shopkeepers and Hotel Operators", during which the in-depth study "The Macroeconomic Scenario for 2023. Challenges for Small Italian Companies" was also presented.