释放增长和韧性：意大利银行业现代化的战略要务

Unlocking Growthand Resilience: March 2026 Chapter 1. The Italian Banking Landscape–A Strong Market Under Pressure For Italian banks, 2024 was an incredibly positive year. They were among the most profitable and financially solidacross all of Europe. Their collective non-performing loan ratio hit an all-time low of2.8%at the end of 2024, a yearmarked by high interest margins, commission income growth and all-time-low risk costs.1 In the first half of 2025, in wake of the European Central Bank’s gradual reduction in interest rates, banks began tohike commission income to maintain profitability. In addition, M&A activity picked up in the Italian financial sector, Despite domestic and global complexities, Italian banks have demonstrated a notable resilience. From 2020 to 2024,returns on equity strengthened to11.37%from6.85%,while cost-income ratios improved to48.52%from67.89%These figures highlight improved profitability driven by higher interest margins and enhanced cost control.It’s a good Still, Italian banks cannot rest on their laurels, especially in an age of geopolitical and trade uncertainty. Markets,regulatory environments and economic outlooks have changed, and competition among banks has increased and will New strategies to succeed in new more tech-driven areas of the economy will require substantial CAPEX and OPEX Worldwide, banks have taken note. According to a global survery conducted by Hanover Research for Temenos in 2025, financial institutions are planningto invest in new technology to improve customer experiences, offer new financial services, reduce operating costs, andmodernise legacy systems. Most plan to better protect their customers(84%)and to improve operating efficiency(81%).Three-quarters of banks also plan to increase investment in software integration(75%)and data analytics Such plans rarely come to fruition for those who opt for one-off upgrades as opposed to more fundamentalmodernization plans.And in Italy, those working to smoothly transition new customers and systems from recentacquisitions may see even more potholes if they run on legacy systems. Factor in compliance, such as new norms As such, expenditures for keeping the lights on must remain contained and must not sap resources required to 1Research Report(ARC Ratings) March2025 New technology for a new Italy The Italian banking sector will continue to serve as a pillar of the national economy, supported by Intesa Sanpaolo,UniCredit and other large banks. A vast network of small and medium-sized financial institutions along with regional,cooperative and savings banks will also contribute to productivity. This sound structural mix has historically supported Factor in the rise of agentic AI and other emerging technologies, hesitation to innovate can lead to lost customers totraditional competitors and native challengers. The Hanover Research survey found that banks are taking steps to improve user experiences, enhance security andstreamline workflows. To achieve these outcomes, banks are investing in software for data analytics and AI-driveninsights (77%), fraud protection and cybersecurity (72%), cloud-based core banking platforms (68%), and AI and Doing so improves efficiency and customer satisfaction, which in turn, bolsters business. Banks are doing well (SeeFigure 1), and competition will only increase. Figure 1.A strong and profitable market, where cost-income ratio keeps improving Central Bank Interest Rate (%) vs Average Cost-Income Ratio (%) Chapter2: Italian Banks at a Crossroads: Navigating Complexity in a Changing Temenos and Azienda Banca research, conducted in collaboration with 11 leading Italian banks, reveals a sector facingmultifaceted and mounting challenges. From external market forces redefining the financial services ecosystem tolegacy systems’ limitations, banks must adapt to new realities with greater agility and flexibility than ever before. That’s A Perfect Storm Italian banks are operating in a high-pressure environment shaped by four interrelated challenge pillars: •Fragmented IT systems:Legacy infrastructure, a lack of integration, and restricted capacity to innovate canall significantly impede operational agility.•Regulatory intricacies:Mounting and increasingly complex compliance demands—from PSD2/PSD3 toDORA and Open Banking mandates—adds to administrative burdens.•Rise of new competitors:Agile fintechs, neo-banks, and BaaS (Banking-as-a-Service) providers erode IT Immaturity: A Structural Barrier to Modernization While financially sound, Italian banks often lag top global performers when it comes to adopting IT best practices. Thesegaps include, but are not limited to, the following: •Optimized application landscapesmaturity scores in Italy come in at 3.4 out of 5.0 vs. 4.3 globally.•Packaged application software adoptionis particularly low (2.8 vs. 4.6), indicating a preference forbespoke, proprietary systems.•Scalable infrastructure maturityis also behind (3.3 vs