MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's No.3 bank Banco BPM (LON:0RLA) is seeking a new commercial deal for its payments business but has no plans to sell part of it, Chief Executive Giuseppe Castagna said on Wednesday.
Banco BPM's stance on payments has put pressure on its current partner Nexi (BIT:NEXII) which currently handles cards and shopowners' payments for Banco BPM.
Normally, Nexi would acquire a stake in a lender's operations in return for its investment. However, Banco BPM has said it wants an upfront payment to strike a long-term partnership without surrendering any ownership.
It will also keep its running level of fees, which normally banks have to give up in part when striking a deal.
Banco BPM booked around 160 million euros ($175 million) in gross revenues in 2022 from the payments businesses for which it is seeking a partner.
Nexi is vying against its main rival Worldline in the Banco BPM partnership deal. BCC Pay, a payment firm owned by Italian private equity fund Fondo Strategico Italiano and cooperative lender ICCREA Banca, has also bid for it.
Banco BPM has said it expects to select a bidder to discuss the terms of the deal by early August when it presents first half results.
"We don't want to sell anything. We're working on a commercial deal," Castagna told reporters when asked which portion of the payments business the bank would sell.
($1 = 0.9132 euros)