ACI Worldwide and Dedagroup Bring Real-Time Payments to Italy in Response to Increasing Consumer Demand

Milan, Italy/London, UK – November 20, 2017 – ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions and Dedagroup, an Italian software and IT services company, today announced a strategic alliance to support Italian financial institutions and payment service providers (PSPs) with the implementation and adoption of real-time banking services.

With its Universal Payments (UP) solutions portfolio, including  UP Immediate Payments and UP Real-Time Payments, ACI enables PSPs to connect to any domestic or pan-European EPC-based instant payments scheme. Dedagroup is one of the largest Italian IT companies, supporting companies, public authorities and financial institutions in designing and implementing IT strategies.

New research reveals the extent to which the disruption in the global banking sector is affecting Italy. According to a global online survey by ACI Worldwide and YouGov of more than 9,000 consumers, almost half of Italian respondents (47%) are planning to switch bank account providers in the next 12 months, more so than in any another European country. Of those who want to switch 21 percent said they were considering opening accounts with a mobile-only bank provider, 20 percent with another high-street bank and 5 percent said they wanted to join a retailer bank. 

Barry Kislingbury, Director Solution Consulting Immediate Payments, ACI Worldwide comments:
"Our research shows that Italian consumers are amongst the keenest adopters of financial services in Europe. This is great news for the banking industry as many financial service providers have been leveraging these new technologies for some time. The partnership between ACI and Dedagroup comes at a crucial time when financial institutions in Europe are preparing for the launch of several domestic and pan-European schemes. These new schemes will empower consumers and businesses to send and receive real-time payments from their existing accounts. They will also provide a platform for banks to launch new and innovative services for today’s digital economy."

Gianni Spada, CEO Dedagroup Business Solutions comments: 
"The introduction of real-time payments offers financial institutions in Italy a great opportunity to develop new and innovative banking services for their customers. The benefits will be for everyone: Consumers will be able to pay bills or send money to friends and family immediately. Faster cash flows will optimize cash and supply chain management for businesses. The immediacy of transactions will also lead to better trade agreements. The partnership with ACI will enable us to provide banks with the necessary support in the implementation of real-time payments solutions." 

Methodology and Demographics: All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 9,372 adults, 1,002 in Italy, 1,010 in France, 1,152 in United States, 2,104 in Germany, 2,078 in the UK, 1,000 in Hungary, 1,026 in Spain.  Fieldwork was undertaken between 25th May - 5th June 2017.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults in each country (aged 18+).

ACI's UP Immediate Payments offers a proven solution for financial institutions to provide connectivity to IP schemes globally. We not only provide our customers with a technical gateway, but also payment processing functionality, guidance on compliance, fraud, scheme rules, testing and certification, as well as support throughout the complex on-boarding process. 

ACI has an unmatched global customer base of financial institutions and payment service providers using its UP Immediate Payments solution. In the UK, it has been used by financial institutions to access the UK Faster Payments scheme since its launch in 2008. Currently, more than half of the direct participants of the UK’s Faster Payments Scheme use ACI’s solutions. Additionally, ACI has customers using UP Immediate Payments to access Singapore FAST and Australian NPP (New Payments Platform). ACI serves on the ISO 20022 Real-Time Payments Group, the EPC Instant Payments Technology Group, payments and security task forces for the U.S. Federal Reserve, and chairs the IPFA rules working group.