Change at the top of ATM, the consortium of the main Italian banks that manages the oldest digital payments circuit in Italy: Fabrizio Burlando takes over from the one who resigns Alessandro Zollo in the role of CEO of the payment circuit. Born in 1974, Burlando boasts long experience in the digital payments sector, gained above all in the last 16 years at Mastercard. “By collaborating closely with financial institutions, merchants and users, we can bring innovation and added value to the payments system in Italy and Europe,” underlined Burlando. “I think that Bancomat can represent an excellence capable of attracting the best talents on the market, both young and experienced”.
The change of course, the entry of Tamagnini, the exit of Unicredit
The arrival of the new CEO is the last step in the company's renewal phase, a few weeks away from the entrance in the ATM capital of Fsi, the fund managed by Maurizio Tamagnini, which, with a capital increase of 75 million, has become the first shareholder of the former banking consortium with 42,9% ahead of Intesa Sanpaolo (18%), UniCredit (10,8%) and Iccrea (6,7%). The operation consisted of 15,8 million paid as capital and 59,2 million as a premium. Upon the occurrence of certain conditions, Fsi also has the possibility of increasing up to 49,7%, reaching a total investment of 100 million. It should be noted that over 100 member institutions of the national payment circuit approved Fsi's entry into the shareholding structure, but the meeting was not plenary. In fact, the appeal was missing UniCredit who, by not showing up, intended to signal his doubts regarding the ATM development plans and the related planned investments. The absence of UniCredit has a strong symbolic value, but does not change the substance of the agreement.
The new challenges of ATMs
The new shareholder structure should favor a more streamlined decision-making process. The resources of Fsi will then accelerate theATM innovation, essential to face the competition from Visa, Mastercard and other international circuits. “We are very satisfied to have completed the process of strengthening Bancomat's capital and governance,” remarked the president Franco Dalla Sega. “We firmly believe that the operation represents a fundamental step in the life of the Company and the start of a new phase of development of a strategic payments infrastructure for our country”.
Before deciding on the increase, the shareholders opted for a final extraordinary mini-dividend. The meeting of 10 May in fact approved the distribution of 2,34 million to the shareholder banks, drawing on retained earnings reserves. “Today, thanks to the rapidity of the technological evolution process and the commercial policies of some players, Bancomat finds itself at a crossroads in its development path”, underlined the president Franco Dalla Sega. “This situation requires Bancomat, to allow it to play the role it deserves in the national payments system, to make investments in products, technology and services, as well as to implement commercial protection for customers in a more direct and incisive way”. Bancomat, warned Dalla Sega, "cannot afford to passively witness the progressive reduction of its market shares".
The weight of the old strategy on the 2023 accounts
ATM closed 2023 with a loss of 3 million euros. The figure was entirely covered through the retained earnings reserve, which in 2022 amounted to almost 8,5 million. In truth the ordinary business recorded growing numbers. Revenue rose to almost 52,5 million, with revenue from PagoBancomat improving by almost 3,7 million thanks to a 9,2% increase in transactions to 2,5 billion. There are 30 million cards in circulation, accepted by over 2,5 million POS and 44 thousand ATMs, while Bancomat Pay users have risen to 12,4 million. Margins were lowered by the boom in sales Costs, rose by 47% to 46,6 million, which cut the ebitda to 5,87 million and produced the red of over 3 million. Furthermore, what caused the red was the final bill to be paid for the old strategic choice now abandoned.
The new multi-year project with Nexi
Within the management report it is underlined that in July 2023 the Bancomat board of directors opted to continue with the centralized infrastructure project with Nexi, with an agreement formalized last year April in a multi-year contract, and definitively abandon the old plan drawn up in 2021 to develop a "Hub Platform" and entrusted to Sia (later merged with Nexi) which aimed to create a new supply chain for the Bancomat, PagoBancomat and Bancomat Pay payment and withdrawal systems. An abandoned road, we read in ATM's 2023 budget, due to "technical and economic complexities". But changing strategy also had its costs. In fact, Bancomat had to cover the costs incurred by Nexi over the years: 16,57 million, of which 5 million already paid in 2022 as a down payment.
