The consumer credit division of the Italian investment bank Mediobanca Group has undertaken two fintech investments to improve its non-performing loan (NPL) operations.
Compass, a division of Mediobanca, has purchased Italian fintech Soisy and acquired a 19.5% share in Swiss firm HeidiPay.
Soisy was founded in 2017 and specialises in providing loans for the purchase of products and services through e-commerce platforms. It collaborates with 800 merchants and facilitates EUR50 million in annual loans.
HeidiPay develops digital solutions to assist e-commerce BNPL by forming partnerships with distributors and premium brands.
Compass’ BNPL service, PagoLight, which was introduced last year for in-store purchases and is now now engaging with e-commerce platforms, would get a boost from the partnership.
Compass CEO Gian Luca Sichel states that compass is the only bank in Italy to seize the opportunities presented by this business and create its own interest-free deferred payment solution with PagoLight: it’s a business that fits perfectly with consumer credit, is innovative, and has tremendous growth potential.
BNPL also enables a bank like Compass to enhance our position in e-commerce, with an emphasis on specific types of items and targets, such as younger and digitally-literate customers, who have previously gotten less consumer credit coverage.
