The entrepreneurial tale of Corrado Passera, formerly powerful CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo and even more powerful Minister of Economic Development of the Monti government, began four years ago. “At the time we were only one file of Power Point, an idea to be developed. Now illimity has become one case history, listed on the stock exchange, which capitalizes one billion euros. We were thirty when we started getting serious, today 750 people work here ».
Sparrow, let’s talk about illimity: do you want to call it a miracle? It wouldn’t be like her, so rational. Tell us what has happened in these four years.
«It has simply proved once more that very innovative things can be done in Italy in a short time. The banking sector is considered mature, but it is a sector where everything is changing and where there is space to do many things that were unthinkable until a few years ago. In illimity we have specialized in a world with little service, which is that of small and medium-sized enterprises. Now, with the launch of b-ilty we are completing the coverage of the sector, passing from medium to small enterprises, which have a unique offer available in terms of quality, simplicity, convenience ».
Stop the slogans. He did not explain what has really happened in recent years to reach important results.
“We have invested in people and technology: 750 formidable people who come from over 300 different organizations. As for technology, we had the courage to overturn the mainframe paradigm: an all-digital architecture, all modular and all in the cloud. And we have abandoned the model of the universal bank, we only do what we are good at and where there is a great unmet need: that of SMEs. So in just over three years we built a bank that today has 5 billion in assets, with 10 per cent of Roe, the Core Tier 1 at 19 per cent and has a risk rate on loans granted below 1 per cent ” .
Go into detail. How do you manage to lend money with a “default rate” of 0.7 percent?
“We haven’t invented anything. We have attracted very capable people to the bank and improved one of the best things about banks of yore. Remember the sectorist, that is, the industry expert who assessed the credit? We have equipped ourselves with a series of sectorists that we call Tutors who cover all our credit sectors. They are people who know a sector in which they have been successful and are often still operational. The Tutor follows the client company step by step: in the development of the business plan that justifies the medium-term loan, in the assessment of creditworthiness, in monitoring the company after the loan. This taste for business management in other banks has been somewhat lost ».
So your success is in the rediscovery of the sector.
«In performing loans and restructuring loans, the role of the Tutor is certainly relevant. In the world of credit distressed the formula for growth and profitability comes above all from the end-to-end model that we have integrated: from due diligence, pricing, financial structuring of investments up to specialized servicing and remarketing of real estate and movable assets. And then a lot of digitization in everything ».
At the recent presentation of the industrial plan, you spoke of new development guidelines. Which ones are they?
«We remain very focused on performing credit, turnaround and distressed to smes, but we continue to add services relevant to our customers – basket bonds and quotations on the stock exchange just to name two examples – and fields of further specialization as it was for real estate and renewable energy. Some major initiatives are starting this year tech in addition to our investment in Hype, the leading fintech in Italy with over one and a half million customers. A few days ago we presented b-ilty, the digital platform for smaller SMEs and in April we will announce a proptech very innovative “.
What is the basic idea that guided you in building your digital offer to smaller SMEs?
«B-ilty was designed with the suggestions of several hundreds of entrepreneurs, inspired by the best digital experiences in the world. The result is a real complete bank (many of the competitors are essentially monoliners) with all basic products: short-term credit to finance working capital, medium-term credit for investments, all the main banking operations, cards, insurance, coverage. Many others will join. All digital, that is, feasible from the office without cards or visits to the branch. But those who want to have at their disposal a professional contact center that is always open and a relationship manager with name and surname. The client company can use b-ilty to consolidate all the accounts it has with other banks on a single platform and the payment formula is completely transparent: try, if you like, subscribe and pay 40 euros per month with unlimited operations , and you can stop whenever you want. We are convinced it is a very competitive offer ».
What target have you set with b-ilty?
“We left on February 11th. We want to reach at least 30,000 customers in four years ».
Let’s look at the illimity title. You said in the past: when we get to 14 euros we start having fun. You are just below 13.
“The proposal I made to my shareholders when we raised the capital necessary to build illimity was structured as follows: up to the first 50 percent increase in the stock only you earn, then the promoters of SPAC, that is the management, also become shareholders. , and we all earn. The beauty begins now ».
Among the shareholders, the Ion of Andrea Pignataro emerged. It has 7 percent of your equity and can go up to 10 percent.
«They are a super innovative group that has licensed our IT architecture. They are one of the largest investing groups in banking software in the world and having them with us will create strong synergies. We are both convinced that the transition from analogue to digital is only just beginning ».
As a former minister, an evaluation of the NRP.
“First of all, the PNRR has avoided the mistake of wanting to do too many things. It focused on ecological transition, digitalization and infrastructure. He did very well. Having said that, I want to emphasize that you journalists often forget the fact that the PNRR well worth it represents about 40 billion a year for five years, while the public investments that can be made with national funds and European funds normal that’s 4-5 times as much. The same discipline and determination that we are demonstrating on NRP funds should apply to all available resources. And there are many things to do, from health to school, from security to justice. So, returning to the NRP: the right priorities have been chosen, the roadmaps are being respected, perhaps it remains only to clarify how to get companies to the bottom of the new resources. But overall it’s okay: go on like this ».
Is Banco Bpm-Unicredit the right answer to the concentration needs of the banking sector?
“Italy deserves to have 3-4 credit poles at a national level. There are many ways to get there. I find that Banco Bpm has objectively done a great job in recent years. Now it has various possibilities in front of it, just as Unicredit has more guidelines for developing through external lines on the Italian territory ».
After an impetuous growth in 2021, how do you see Italy in the coming months, especially in relation to the increase in rates?
«We can grow more than expected if we know how to spend well, in addition to the NRP, all the public funds that can be used for the investments we have mentioned and if we know how to stimulate private investments. Our problem today is called productivity. As for inflation, we must take into account that this inflation, which can become a serious problem, is however made up of very different components. Energy inflation is different from commodity inflation or supply chain problems or demand inflation that you can cure with rates. We run the risk of treating a series of non-monetary inflation with a monetary instrument. This could lead us to stop the recovery and keep all the other reasons for inflation. The big mistake to avoid is stagflation, or recession with inflation ».
However, there is a theme linked to energy and its prices.
“Energy is the real problem for families and businesses. We know that the rise in energy prices does not derive only from demand, but from supply, in turn conditioned by geopolitical factors and reasons for political choices. Certainly it becomes even more urgent to review the issue of system charges and the components that may need to be taxed “.
You speak of a company in which everything works, but two managers like Massimo Di Carlo, who was the head of “lending” and Isabella Falautano, head of Communications, have, so to speak, escaped with the Cassa …
«(ride) I talked to both of them and we agreed that it was an appropriate step for both of us. The idea that a banchetta how ours produces positions of this type for Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and how long 24 hours with internal resources we have covered these roles, means that illimity has also created a beautiful school of managers “.
© Time.News
© Time.News