PRESS RELEASE

SETEFI − INTESA SANPAOLO GROUP JOINS THE FRENCH PAYMENT SYSTEM “CARTES BANCAIRES”

• A strategic decision for Setefi’s international operations
• The “Made in Italy” brands operating in France with Setefi POS terminals will be able to accept “Cartes Bancaires” payments
• French tourists will be able to pay for their purchases in Italy using their domestic payment system

Milan, 14 June 2013 − Setefi, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group company specialising in payment systems, has joined the French circuit “Cartes Bancaires”, which handled transactions for over 480 billion euro in 2012 and has more than 60 million cards in circulation worldwide. Setefi is the first Italian company to join the restricted number of “Cartes Bancaires” principal members. This strategic decision will enable the company − already an Italian sector leader − to strengthen its competitive capacity on the international market.
The first to benefit from the agreement will be the major “Made in Italy” brands operating in France with Setefi POS terminals, which will now be able to accept payments through the “Cartes Bancaires” circuit.  Also benefiting will be the French people visiting Italy on vacation or for business. Indeed, “Cartes Bancaires” cardholders will be able to pay for their purchases easily and in complete safety at stores using Setefi POS terminals.
Maurizio Manzotti, Setefi Managing Director and General Manager, has defined the company’s membership of the “Cartes Bancaires” circuit as: “An important step that enhances the international operations of Setefi, which has been operating its own POS terminals in France, Spain and Switzerland for over a year, and will expand to Portugal, the UK, Greece, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany in the near future. Membership of France’s leading payment system is strategic in increasing the competitiveness of our product on the French market, which we follow with great interest given its enormous development potential”.
Setefi is already a member of the following major national and international payment circuits: PagoBancomat, Visa, MasterCard, UnionPay, Discover, Diners and JCB. The company offers its services to merchants as a single partner for all phases of the POS collection process (terminal installation and maintenance, payment system clearing and settlement, accounting settlement, support service and help desks). In addition, Setefi manages 300,000 POS terminals and over 12 million payment cards issued by the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, including the fraud prevention service and the 24/7 help desk.

For information

Intesa Sanpaolo
Banca dei Territori Media Office and Local Media
Tel +39 0115556652
stampa@intesasanpaolo.com