Bluerating | May 2024
When we think about financial consultancy in Italy, we believe it is a derby between so-called traditional banks and network banks, which is also played at home as the majority of financial consultant networks are part of banking or insurance groups.
One might say “tertium non datur”, a phrase which in Latin means that a third solution does not exist compared to the two aforementioned ones.
In reality there is a third option and it is represented by Poste Italiane. The recent entry into AIPB, the Italian Private Banking Association, has only confirmed what the market has known for some time and in some ways some banks feared.
Over the last ten years, the networks have acquired an ever-increasing share of the assets of Italian families to the detriment of the traditional banking channel which is affected by the phenomenon of so-called banking desertification.
In 2023, 826 branches closed in Italy, at the end of 2022 there were 677. A quarter of the national territory, with a surface area greater than that of Lombardy, Veneto and Piedmont, has been abandoned by banks.
However, there are over 6 million Italians residing in municipalities where there is only one branch left and who risk finding themselves soon cut off from banking services.
And this is because in Italy internet banking is still not widespread, going from 60% of the most financially advanced regions to less than 30% of the most backward ones.
In this context, Poste Italiane can count on a territorial presence guaranteed by 12,800 post offices and 8,000 Postamat.
It is therefore not surprising that Poste Italiane’s market share in the management of Italians’ savings has gone from 12% to 17% in ten years.
And the best is yet to come given that Poste Italiane aims to further increase revenues over the next four years, especially in the field of financial consultancy and private banking.
The numbers from which Poste starts are impressive: 580 billion euros of savings by Italians, including the “affluent” customer segment, worth 241 billion euros, and includes 1.2 million customers, the “private” segment accounts for 55 billion and includes 64,000 customers.
In addition to its territorial presence, Poste Italiane can count on some strengths recognized by the upper affluent and private Italians interviewed by FINER.
85% of Italian upper affluent and private individuals appreciate the recognisability of the Poste Italiane brand, an excellent result in a sector such as financial consultancy where – with the necessary exceptions – there is still a long way to go.
The solidity and reliability of Poste Italiane in the field of financial consultancy is then recognized by 79% of Italian upper affluent and private individuals, followed by appreciation for the widespread presence in the territory with 77%, the availability and courtesy of the staff 75%, the offer of safe and reliable products 73% and their transparency and simplicity for 71% of those interviewed.
Another strength of Poste Italiane lies in their underestimation by more renowned competitors whose prejudices could prove lethal, especially in the conquest of those geographical areas where private banks manage to serve less than 35% of the wealthiest customers.
The potential for a third service model in the financial consultancy sector therefore seems to be there, we will see if the Italian Post Office will be able to take up the challenge: judging by the numbers it would seem so.
Nicola Ronchetti