Banca Popolare di Sondrio has launched a new solution that allows public entities to accept pagoPA® payments directly and seamlessly via point of sale (POS) devices. The service is based on the PayTAS suite from TAS Group – the leading Italian FinTech providing e-money and digital payments solutions – and is integrated with POS devices managed by PayGlobe, a start-up belonging to the Owl Group.
The Salone dei Pagamenti fair in Milan is the Italian banking industry’s foremost event, organised each year by the Italian Banking Association (ABI) and sees over 9,000 participating from a wide variety of sectors. The fair was chosen as the occasion to showcase this innovative service, with demos being offered to visitors in partnership with the bank directly at the TAS Group booth – L16.
The electronic payment system, pagoPA was introduced by the Agency for Digital Italy (AgID) to make Public Administration payments simpler, safer and more transparent. If adopted on a large scale, pagoPA is able to generate significant cost savings for public budgets, as highlighted recently in the eGovernment Observatory of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano (MIP). By taking into account just three of the paid services managed by the municipalities (school meals, waste tax and fines), the MIP’s report estimated that public entities can save over 320 million euro per year. The savings come mainly from the process phases on which the pagoPA system has the biggest impact – payment notifications, the payment itself and its reconciliation in the entity’s accounting systems.
A nationwide system that is ready and mature on the payments front now awaits implementation of the last mile, that is the adhesion of the entities that have direct relations with citizens and businesses. Even if required by law, adoption rate still proves to be one of Italy’s greatest challenges. It is a challenge that Banca Popolare di Sondrio is turning into an opportunity, both for itself and the entire countrywide system, through the use of enabling technology and the support of experienced partners with a deep level of expertise, such as TAS Group.
“We were one of the first banks to join and contribute to the pagoPA initiative, both as a PSP and as a technological partner for our customers, fully sharing the fundamental objectives of the digitalisation of public administration processes and efficiency and synergy through all the innovative services we offer to our customers”, said Mario Alberto Pedranzini of Banca Popolare di Sondrio.
