Italian private bank Banca Generali, with $87 billion in assets under management, will offer Bitcoin services to its 300,000 customers for the first time in early 2022. This comes as part of a partnership with crypto company Conio, in which the bank invested a year ago.
The bank's 300,000 customers will soon be able to create a Bitcoin wallet directly in their bank account. The feature was made possible through the bank's partnership with cryptocurrency platform Conio, which will be integrated into the eBanking app. Banca Generali's retail customers will be able to buy, hold and sell bitcoin in a self-directed manner via the integration.
Bitcoin trading via the current account
Italian financial magazine Wealth reported on Banca Generali's new service, saying that once the integration of the Conio platform into Banca Generali Private's mobile banking app is complete, customers will have direct access to bitcoin trading through the same environment already used for other banking transactions. All this with the added advantage of directly debiting or crediting the current account for the purchase and sale of Bitcoin, without having to rely on payment cards or transmit data to third parties.
The fintech company Conio was founded in San Francisco by two Italians. Banca Generali acquired a 50% stake worth $14 million in December 2020 and has since offered bitcoin custody to its users. The integration is expected to be completed early in the new year, according to Riccardo Renna, Banca Generali's Chief Operation Officer & Head of Innovation. From that point on, customers will be able to safely deal with the new asset class.
Best private bank in Italy
Banca Generali is part of the Generali Group, one of the ten largest insurers in the world. It has been repeatedly crowned Italy's best private bank by the Financial Times and targets high net worth individuals (HNWIs) who use private banking and wealth management services. It is another step taken by the bank to complete its private product range with services and platforms available to its bankers and clients.
"We know that the future structure of financial markets will certainly be influenced by blockchain technology, which is becoming more and more prevalent. We are working with Conio on various projects to explore possible integrations of the technology into our processes and systems." - Riccardo Renna, Chief Operation Officer Banca Generali
The new services also offer the advantage of allowing customers to buy bitcoin by loading their debit or credit account, rather than using a third-party provider. In addition, the bank offers a unique MultiSig wallet solution for increased security and to ensure that the wallet can be recovered in the event of an inheritance. Deutsche Sparkasse also announced a similar integration of crypto trading into customers' current accounts a few weeks ago.
