Intesa Sanpaolo gives clients more time to opt out of digital shift

By Giuseppe Fonte

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo said on Monday it had reopened the deadline for thousands of its customers to opt out of switching to its digital lender Isybank, following protests from consumer associations and ruling lawmakers.

The complaints, which prompted Italy's central bank as well as the antitrust body to look into the way the lender was shifting the clients to the app-based unit, highlight the digital challenge banks face as they strive to update their IT infrastructure and keep costs down.

In a note sent to customers on Monday and seen by Reuters, Intesa wrote that anyone wanting to remain with Intesa Sanpaolo had until the end of February to say so. A previous communication issued in July had set the deadline at Sept. 30.

"That decision was taken by Intesa after listening carefully to its customers and in order to meet their needs," a spokesperson for the bank said in a statement, confirming the report.

Isybank, a cloud-based, low-cost mobile bank, is a key plank of Intesa CEO Carlo Messina's long-term strategy to withstand competition from fintech by cutting costs and focusing the efforts of expensive branch staff on value-added wealth management and non-life insurance services.

Many Intesa customers complained that, partly also because of the summer holidays, they had seen July notice only after the deadline to ask to remain with the traditional banking service had expired.

Announcing a probe earlier this month, the competition watchdog said the message was "ambiguous and sent in a way that is not consistent with the importance of the matter at stake," adding it had received more than 2,000 complaints.

Letizia Giorgianni, from the Brothers of Italy party led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, welcomed Intesa's decision, saying customers have the right to choose by whom and how to have their savings managed.

Intesa Sanpaolo remained fully committed to the Isybank project, the spokesperson said, adding that according to initial surveys just 5% of the customers were not fully satisfied.

(Editing by Keith Weir and Marguerita Choy)