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AIFIN: INTESA SANPAOLO RECEIVES THE HONOURABLE MENTION AS THE “MOST INNOVATIVE BANK OF 2015”

THE NEW BRANCH MODEL WINS 1ST PRIZE IN THE “CERCHIO D’ORO AWARDS FOR FINANCIAL INNOVATION”

• According to the survey carried out by AIFIn (Italian Financial Innovation Association) in collaboration with MarketLab on a panel of 106 Italian managers from the banking, insurance and financial sector, Intesa Sanpaolo is regarded as the most innovative bank of 2015

• AIFIn also awarded the Intesa Sanpaolo Group the top prize in the “Cerchio D’oro Awards for Financial Innovation” for its new branch model. Two honourable mentions for the trials of smart working and the Digital Factory, the project to digitalise operating processes

• Listening directly to customers and employees, improving the customer experience and the company climate, redesigning processes and services, exploiting all of the potential of technology: these were the key factors of the three projects developed with the support of the Innovation Center

Milan, 24 February 2016 - Intesa Sanpaolo has received the honourable mention as the most innovative bank of 2015, as a result of the survey carried out by AIFIn (the Italian Financial Innovation Association) in collaboration with MarketLab on an executive panel of 106 Italian managers from the banking, insurance and financial sector. This honourable mention was awarded for the first time as part of the “Cerchio d’Oro Awards for Financial Innovation”, with which the Association acknowledges, each year, the ability of intermediaries to drive or anticipate changes in the market by launching innovative and stimulating initiatives for the entire industry.

This wasn’t the only recognition afforded to Intesa Sanpaolo, which consolidated and reiterated its capacity for innovation introducing new ways of listening to and interacting with both its customers and its employees.  Yesterday in Milan, during the Financial Innovation Day Conference, the Group was awarded 1st prize for its project to enhance the customer experience and redesign the branch layout, and received two additional honourable mentions for the trials of smart working and the Digital Factory, the project to digitalise operating processes.

The three award-winning initiatives, consistent with the contents of the Group’s 2014-2017 Business Plan, were developed by the Bank based on input from its customers and staff. Each one is designed to create value, promoting individual and collective wellbeing and encouraging sharing and interaction, in a challenging context in which innovation is a key driver of development and growth. Fundamental, during the planning and implementation of the new initiatives, was the support of the Innovation Center, the Intesa Sanpaolo Governance Area dedicated to the management and development of innovation for the Group.

- “CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND NEW BRANCH LAYOUT”, a Banca dei Territori project, 1st prize in the “Distribution channels and customer experience” category

Intesa Sanpaolo opened the first branches with the new layout in Milan, Rome and Turin in October: a genuine “revolution” based on the idea that the branch is an open place for dialogue, meetings, communication and work. Everything stems from the need to redesign the customer experience in branches and make it consistent with the evolution of the multi-channel approach, which is resulting in a gradual reduction in the number of people carrying out traditional operations in bank branches and the creation of new touch points between the bank and its customers.
In this context, the branch must stand out and become integrated, increasingly becoming a space where the emphasis is on listening, dialogue and consultancy. The hub of the branch is the “piazza”, a place for sharing ideas and experiences, where discussions and events come to life. The branch therefore becomes a social platform that revolves around the customer, offering them the chance to acquire new skills and to participate in initiatives that are not only related to banking and finance. The project is being expanded and within three years will transform the Group’s biggest 1000 branches right across Italy.

- “FLEXIBLE WORK”, honourable mention in the “Operations, organisation, IT and HR” category

The project, developed with the Human Resources Department, expresses an important change in the organisational and working culture and represents one of the first large-scale smart working experiences launched by a major company in Italy. The ways of participating in this voluntary project are particularly innovative: colleagues can work from home up to 8 days a month, which can also be divided over a greater number of days, while there are no specific limits to flexible work at hubs and customer premises as long as the general principle that activities be planned with one’s immediate manager is respected. The flexible work trial began in March 2015 and over 3000 colleagues regularly take advantage of the possibilities it offers.

- “DIGITAL FACTORY”, honourable mention in the “Operations, organisation, IT and HR” category

Promoted by Intesa Sanpaolo Group Services, this project forms part of the digital transformation path undertaken by the Group in recent years. The Digital Factory was developed to redesign the Bank’s main processes according, primarily, to the needs of its customers, and seeks to introduce a completely new working method. The review of every process – so far 40 have been identified, selected from among those with the greatest potential for automation and relevance for customers – involves people from different company officers who work full time as part of a team, for no longer than 16 weeks, with full decision-making powers. Together they share goals, a physical space and, above all, a zero-based approach that designs the new processes beginning with a blank sheet of paper. As such, a bit of creativity and innovation is required in a context in which reasoning is often guided by consolidated habits and behaviour. The project has a 3-year timeframe.

Press information:  
Intesa Sanpaolo
Banca dei Territori Media and Local Media
Tel. +39 011.5559609
stampa@intesasanpaolo.com