Italy: Eni, Poste Italiane partnership to integrate tech and payment platforms

Its main objective is to offer retail customers a growing range of new services and payment solutions.

Eni and Poste Italiane have signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a broad digital partnership. The non-binding cooperation agreement also covers financial services, and has been signed by Eni, Eni Refining & Marketing, Eni Gas e Luce, Poste Italiane and PostePay.

This partnership between the two large Italian companies represents an important tool to integrate and enhance Eni and Poste Italiane’s assets. It forms part of a multi-business strategy involving both fuel supply at Eni’s service stations, and gas and electric energy, by launching innovative financial services drawing on opportunities afforded by the EU’s Payment Services Directive 2.

The agreement sets out a series of actions intended to combine over 26 million of Poste Italiane group’s debit and prepaid cards used in Italy with Eni’s 4,300 service stations. On an average day, one million people pass through these service stations, plus a further eight million Eni Gas e Luce customers, who generate 41 million in bills per year and can take advantage of 150 Energy Stores.

Specifically, Poste Italiane and Eni will perform a study into initiatives with the goal of identifying solutions that guarantee maximum security and simplicity when customers make physical and digital transactions. The study will investigate various financial services in accordance with the regulatory framework. Examples include payment using pre-printed forms and cashback when refuelling. Poste Italiane and Eni Gas e Luce may also trial new bill itemisation systems via blockchain technology. New refund functions for Eni Gas e Luce customers are already in place throughout the Poste Italiane network.