Relationship with customers

With 12.9 million multi-channel customers in Italy (96% of the total), Intesa Sanpaolo is the country's first digital bank. Aabout 8.1 million customers using the Intesa Sanpaolo App in 2021. Inside it,  XME Wallet is the digital wallet of Intesa Sanpaolo that allows customers to manage online payments, to organize documents and loyalty cards with the smartphone.

On the foreign perimeter, the DigiCal program (digital channels - physical branches, digital channels and branches) has continued, aimed at strengthening the integration between the physical and digital channels.

In recent years both the new website and the Mobile APP have been developed according to criteria of full accessibility. For this reason, we have collaborated and verified the two channels by a specialized company in the sector (ASPHI Onlus Foundation) and we collaborate permanently with a group of our blind colleagues.

The relationship with Business and Corporate customers also continues to develop digitally thanks to a multi-year transformation programme and the Inbiz Portal for companies. Following the COVID-19 health emergency and also thanks to the identity model and digital signature MyKey Inbiz, the business world digitisation programme continued in 2021. The Group’s ambition was to make it easier for customers to manage independently and remotely their relationship with the Bank.

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Branches continue to represent for Intesa Sanpaolo the physical location of the distribution network, where customers find support and assistance in person, especially for more complex operations. There are around 3,700 branches in Italy and around 1,000 abroad. 

The attention to the "physical location" of the reception was particularly developed with the project of the New Branch Layout which produced a significant change in the methods of meeting with the customer: modular physical spaces place reception at the center, with areas to living in common. The new branch layout, which also adapts to host artistic and cultural events, at the end of 2021 is present in 313 branches, of which 18 are Business branches, with an increase of over 40 units compared to 2020.

The project implements the most stringent regulations for the removal of architectural barriers and in 2014 was acknowledged by FIABA Fondo Italiano Abbattimento Barriere Architettoniche, which recognised its full compliance with the requirements regarding accessibility for people with reduced mobility. 
Proximity also means that the bank is available at all times, guaranteeing cost-effectiveness, safety, transparency and online help in choices and navigation.

The Online Branch is the access point to the digital bank. More and more a relationship center for customers in terms of welcoming, listening and assistance on products and services, as well as proposing commercial solutions, in analogy with the tasks performed by the traditional branches in the area.
The Online Branch assists all customers and potential customers of Banca dei Territori and Private Banking through digital channels, in synergy with the physical network.

In fact, the constant evolution of multi-channeling has led to combining the skills of network people with the potential offered by the development of technology, to give customers a better experience in dialogue with the Bank.

Integrated with the app and with the internet banking platform, the Online Branch constitutes the remote interaction channel with customers, with a broad service both in terms of content and availability 7 days a week, offered through over 2,000 online managers throughout the national territory.

Over 150 Remote Managers are also active, offering a free remote consultancy service for digital-oriented customers, with extended hourly coverage, in synergy with the physical network using cutting-edge collaboration tools for immediate, easy and efficient interaction with the client.

Mooney

The widespread presence on the territory and access to services are achieved by the Mooney network, the first Italian reality of Proximity Banking & Payments, born from the agreement between SisalPay and Banca 5, which at the end of 2021 has over 45,000 affiliated commercial establishments distributed throughout national territory and makes available to the approximately 20 million citizens who pass through the authorized businesses on a daily basis, a complete range of collection and payment services (withdrawals, bank transfers, MAV, bulletins, top-up of prepaid cards, etc.) and other commercial services (SPID recognition, telephone top-ups).

The Intesa Sanpaolo Group had a network of more than 7,600 automatic teller machines (ATM, MTA e self-service staff-assisted banking terminals) in Italy and 3,100 ATMs abroad.
In Italy, all the machines are aligned to the international management standard for cards with EMV microprocessors.
The “Donations” function is active at all branches to allow customers to make free donations to the bank’s main partner non-profit associations (Bambin Gesù, Agire, Anlaids, AIBI, Malawi, AIRC, Città della Speranza, Amico Charly, Lega del Filo d’Oro, Banco Alimentare, Per Emma onlus, Famiglie Nuove and Padova Ospitale).

To allow visually impaired or short-sighted people to withdraw cash, view their account balance or top up their mobile phone at ATMs, Intesa Sanpaolo has realized in partnership with Unione Italiana Ciechi (Italian Association for the Blind) various initiative that allows them to operate autonomously and safely.

For short-sighted customers, for the same functions, all self-service machines were fitted with a high-visibility display format (yellow font on a black background), activated, as in the case of the headset jack for visually impaired customers, by pressing the “5” key - easy to find thanks to a raised mark - before inserting a card.

Intesa Sanpaolo also wanted to exploit web potential to allow Italian companies to increase their popularity, thus increasing their business and seizing new opportunities for development. Partnerships have been launched and several business matching platforms made available Created in Italia which is an e-commerce portal that promotes Italian excellence in food and tourism sectors. 

In an increasingly fast and digital world, Forvalue has created Club Forvalue, an online platform whose services are organized in four thematic areas: 

• digital networking, with a social area, a showcase for client companies on the Forvalue website and business matching tools (for example TechMarketplace);  
• information on business and markets, in collaboration with the 24 Ore Group and with the Studies and Research Department of Intesa Sanpaolo; 
• art and culture, with a ticketing service in collaboration with the Galleries of Italy; 
• advantages for companies including discounts on electronic invoicing services (Digifattura), employee training (Skills4Business by Intesa Sanpaolo Formazione) and discounted prices on subscriptions to MF / Milano Finanza and ItaliaOggi; 
• Club Forvalue also combines offline networking with online networking, thanks to face-to-face events, during which entrepreneurs can discuss in convivial and in-depth meetings on issues related to business and the scenario.

With reference to the area of investments, following the entry into force of the MiFID II Directive and the European Regulations on investor protection, the Bank has further strengthened its model in order to be able to offer a higher level of protection to investors and greater transparency in the negotiations that take place on the financial instruments markets. In particular, Intesa Sanpaolo has introduced new obligations in terms of governance of financial instruments, knowledge requirements and competence of the personnel responsible for providing investment services as well as ex ante and ex post information on costs, charges and incentives for financial products and services offered.

Within the Progetto Multicanalità Integrata (Integrated Multichannel Project), information sheets and pre-contract documents were made available on the WEB platform for the distance marketing of financial products.

The new products and services marketed by Intesa Sanpaolo, as well as the changes to existing products and services, are subject to compliance clearing, a prior verification of compliance with applicable regulations. In the same way, innovative projects that involve the start-up of activities or inclusion in new markets, are assessed in advance to ensure substantial and formal compliance with internal and external regulations. Conformity assessments are conducted in compliance with the principles of fairness and protection of the customers' interests and also relate to the quality of the information provided and to the consistency of the same services, products or transactions with the expectations of the customers to whom they are addressed.

Intesa Sanpaolo has for some time developed an open and constructive dialogue with the Consumer Associations recognized as representative at national level, starting from listening to the requests and finalizing the collaboration at project and technical-operational level. Intesa Sanpaolo signed the framework agreement called "Innoviamo le Relazioni" on 12 April 2019 with all the National Council of Consumers and Users (Ministry of Economic Development). The agreement establishes the formation of six permanent round tables on the topics of greatest interest: Products and Services, Regulations and Authority, Education, Customer Care and Conciliation, Sustainability, Local Relations.

Permanent Conciliation activities continued (see Website Conciliation Agreement) as an out-of-court resolution tool adopted and managed together with Consumer Associations. The conciliation procedure, which concerns the products offered to private customers (current accounts and connected payment cards, mortgages and personal loans), is simple, free and fast and provides for a maximum resolution time of 60 days. The customer can decide to join, without any charge and with the knowledge of not compromising in no way any different roads that wanted to undertake, even later, to protect his interests.

In 2021, 189 applications for permanent conciliation were received.

The main objective is to communicate the initiatives that are strategic or important from an operational viewpoint to all stakeholders, ensuring the utmost transparency. Information is made available through the dedicated section of the website and individuals or entities can also subscribe to a mailing-list to receive press releases and information about major corporate events directly by e-mail or mobile phone. There is also an option for requesting that documentation is mailed to the user’s home address.

Intesa Sanpaolo adheres to UPA (Utenti Pubblicità Associati) and “Codice di Autodisciplina Pubblicitaria” (Publicity Governance Code), promoted by the Istituto di Autodisciplina Pubblicitaria (IAP) to ensure that advertising is transparent, true and correct. The close collaboration with these Associations ensures that any updates or amendments in the regulations to which we have adhered are immediately put into effect. As for advertisements of investment products, all scripts are always submitted to the Legal Affairs Department and to the Compliance Department and when necessary, communicated to Consob to examine their compliance with laws and their adherence to the principles of truthfulness and transparency.

In order to monitor the level of protection and security of personal data, a complex process has long been introduced and is constantly updated, that provides the internal certification basis of the service approach for the protection of personal data at the Group level, aimed at continuous improvement.

Essential is the effort aimed at raising awareness among the employees on the precaution which, already ingrained in the daily banking activities, represents the very essence of personal data protection: the training upgrade is intended in general to all the employees and in particular, according to the different needs, to the staff that covers specific roles.

The following activities are kept under constant monitoring:

• analysis, in terms of personal data protection, of new products or initiatives carried out by the Group banks
• processing of customers’ requests with regards to the right of access to their data or pertaining to complaints on the subject.

Security management is, for the financial sector, a necessary prerequisite in customer relationships. As well as the traditional issue of physical security, aimed at countering the phenomena of robbery, for some years the attention devoted to combatting fraud and cybercrime perpetrated against customers through the fraudulent use of services offered by the Bank (Internet banking, Phone banking, payment cards, cheques and ATMs) has increased.

Such offences, also known as cybercrime, are committed against customers using increasingly sophisticated technological stratagems and social engineering tactics (especially in the main communication channels like email, phone and social networks).

To prevent and combat these risks, Intesa Sanpaolo has implemented a series of measures in Italian banks and in some of the Group’s international banks, including the anti-fraud system, which analyses all card transactions made through online channels (e.g. Internet Banking). “Suspicious” transactions are checked by a specialist unit and, if necessary, contact is made with the customer concerned as soon as possible.
In the event of ascertainable fraud or attempted fraud, the customer is also assisted in filing a report with the relevant authorities.

All customers are informed on the rules of conduct for proper and safe use of online tools (e.g., updated antivirus software, detection of phishing emails, correct use of personal codes, etc.) and the information is also made available in the "Safety" section of the Bank's website.