ITALY

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, July 2021.

• The Italian central bank is the Banca d'Italia (www.bancaditalia.it).
• Banca d'Italia is a member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and operates certain activities, such as issuing currency, under the authority of the European Central Bank (ECB – www.ecb.europa.eu).

Bank Supervision

• In November 2014, the ECB, via the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), assumed responsibility for supervising the financial stability of banks operating within the euro zone. However, while the ECB has final supervisory authority over all banks operating within the euro zone, it will only directly supervise those banks classified as ‘significant’ under the terms of the SSM (115 significant banking groups have been recognized to date). ‘Less significant’ banks will continue to be supervised by the national supervisory authority, i.e. the Banca d'Italia.
• The Italian Securities and Exchange Commission (CONSOB – www.consob.it) regulates the securities sector.  

• Lifting fees are applied on payments between resident and non-resident bank accounts.

• DISCLOSED / UNDISCLOSED 

Both solutions are offered. Undisclosed programmes with financing only for well-rated companies. 

• RECOURSE / NON-RECOURSE 

Both solutions are offered. Non-recourse represents the majority of total volume. 

• STRUCTURED PRODUCTS 

Reverse and maturity factoring are available. Factoring + securitisation solutions together with BNPP Securitisation team. 

• EXPORT / IMPORT 

Membership of FCI (Facilitating Open Account - Receivables Finance). Two Factors system is used for all countries that are eligible under country risk policy of BNP Paribas. 

• CONCENTRATION REQUIREMENTS 

No concentration policy on recourse programmes. In non-recourse, a homogeneous group of debtors is required. 

• MAX. PREPAYMENT % 

100%. 

• CREDIT COVER % 

100%. 

• USUAL FUNDING PERIOD 

For the private sector on average 90-120 days, in certain cases up to 180 days. For public sector generally longer. 

• OFF-BALANCE SHEET SOLUTIONS 

Quite a number of off-balance sheet solutions are offered to mainly large/quoted clients. 

• INVOICE TRANSFER 

Data can be transferred electronically via an IT platform called Mediana. 

• ON-LINE APPLICATIONS 

Clients can check the balance of their accounts via Ifi Mediana web site. 

• DELAYED DUNNING 

This is not a general service but it is available. 

• DATA FACTORING 

Not applicable. 

• CURRENCIES OF FINANCE 

All major currencies are possible.

• Credit transfers are used by companies to pay salaries and suppliers, and to make tax, benefit and treasury payments.
• Low-value SEPA credit transfers (SCTs) can be settled via STEP2 or via correspondent banking networks. Participants in BI-COMP can clear payments bilaterally with participants in clearing systems in Austria (Clearing Service International for SCTs) and the Netherlands (equensWorldline Clearing and Settlement System for SEPA direct debits and SCTs).
• Approximately 400 banks in Italy participate in the SEPA credit transfer scheme.
• The niche paper-based MAV (Mediante Avviso– a paper-based giro issued by the creditor's bank) and Freccia (Bollettino Bancario – a paper-based giro issued by the creditor) remain outside of the scope of SEPA and are not affected by the SEPA end date regulation.
• High-value and urgent domestic and cross-border (within the euro zone) credit transfers can be settled in real time via TARGET2-BI.
• High-value and urgent cross-border payments can also be settled via the Euro Banking Association’s EURO1 system. Thirteen banks in Italy participate directly in EURO1.
• Cross-border transfers can be made via SWIFT and settled through correspondent banks abroad.
• The European Payment Council’s SCT Inst scheme (a pan-European 24/7 instant payment scheme for SEPA credit transfers) enables the transfer of funds (the maximum threshold value is EUR 100,000) to another account in less than ten seconds. There are around 320 SCT Inst participants in Italy.
• EBA Clearing and Italy’s SIA Group have developed and implemented a pan-European platform for instant EUR payments called RT1. It is fully compliant with the SCT Insts scheme and is in line with the ISO 20022 global messaging standards for instant payments.
• EBA Clearing has launched a pan-European request to pay (R2P) infrastructure solution with the support of 27 payment service providers from 11 countries. The new 24/7 service is compatible with the SCT and SCT Inst schemes and allows payees to take the initiative to request a specific payment from the payer.
• TIPS is a pan-European service for the settlement of instant payments in central bank money. The service enables payment service providers and ACHs with access to TARGET2 to offer fund transfers 24/7, 365 days a year. TIPS is aligned with SCT Insts. It is primarily focused on EUR payments but is technically capable of settling payments denominated in other currencies. Nexi’s platform for instant credit transfers is the first in Italy to be integrated with TIPS.

• Direct debits are used for regular payments, such as utility bills.
• SEPA direct debits can be settled via STEP2.
• The RIBA (Ricevuta Bancaria), a non-preauthorised direct debit, remains outside of the scope of SEPA migration and is not affected by the SEPA end date regulation.

• The cheque remains a popular payment instrument for consumers and small companies. However, its use is in decline. In 2019, cheque volume and value fell 12% and 8.4% respectively, to 134 million transactions, with a value of EUR 375.2 billion.
• All Cheques are truncated and processed as electronic items by BI-COMP.
• However, it can take up to a week for funds to be credited to the beneficiary, due to the bank practice of taking extra 'float' days.

• Card payments are the increasingly popular, especially for retail transactions.
• There were 59,418 million debit cards and 15.3 million credit cards in circulation at the end of 2020.
• Bancomat/PagoBancomat is Italy’s national debit card scheme.
• Visa V Pay debit cards are issued by five Italian banks.
• Debit card payments are settled through BI-COMP.
• Domestic Nexi credit cards are issued in conjunction with Visa and MasterCard. Nexi credit card payments are cleared by EquensWorldline.
• Some banks also offer their own proprietary credit card in conjunction with Visa and MasterCard.
• Contactless card technology is available in Italy. Contactless payments account for over half of all in-store card payments.
• All cards issued are SEPA-compliant with EMV chips.

• There were approximately 40,462 ATMs in Italy at the end of 2020.
• There were 3.42 million POS terminals in Italy at the end of 2020.
• All payments through the Bancomat (ATM) or PagoBancomat (POS) network are settled through BI-COMP Rete Dettaglio.
• All ATMs and POS terminals are EMV-compliant.

• There were 31.9 million multi-purpose pre-paid cards in circulation at the end of 2020.
• There were 21.9 million Postepay pre-paid cards in circulation at the end of Q1 2021. Postepay cards are offered by the Italian Post Office in conjunction with Visa and MasterCard. They can be used at ATMs and POS terminals. There are eight million Postepay Evolution cards, which are issued with an IBAN.
• Mobile payment schemes such as Samsung Pay, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Garmin Pay and Nexi Pay are also available.

• BNP Paribas is recognised as a market leader in trade finance in Italy. Its Global Trade Solution (GTS) team in Italy includes over 40 highly skilled trade finance experts based in Milan, Rome, Bologna, Florence and Naples, offering a full range of traditional and innovative tailor-made solutions to Italian corporations (both large corporations and SMEs), and multinational corporations doing business in Italy.
• In 2013, BNP Paribas launched an initiative to enable all BNP Paribas corporate clients to access the CIB platform. This includes supply chain management solutions and a fronting offer to enable BNPP corporate clients to participate in important international contracts where BNP Paribas acts as arranging and fronting bank for guarantee facilities.

• The EU has trade agreements in place with over 30 countries.
• The EU is currently in free trade negotiations with a number of countries, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, Indonesia, Mercosur (the Southern Common Market), Uruguay, and the USA. The EU and the UK are discussing their future trading relationship, following the UK’s departure from the EU.

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, July 2021.