Backbase expands its European presence with a new office in Italy

Milan, February 2, 2023 - The Italian banking sector is going through a moment of strong transformation and faces many challenges in customer relations. Its centrality is increasingly evident and its daily needs, which are constantly evolving, become more and more pressing and to be satisfied instantly, possibly in self-service mode. Rising management costs and the inefficiencies of the back office component complete a decidedly challenging picture, especially for traditional banks.

With these assumptions in mind, Backbase announces the launch of its Engagement Banking Platform in Italy, with the aim of providing valuable support for the entire sector, coming to the aid of banks wishing to establish themselves as leaders in an ever-changing competitive landscape.

Backbase's Engagement Banking Platform, in fact, represents a paradigm shift for building a banking business that revolves around the customer, along their entire lifecycle: from onboarding to the provision of services aimed at building loyalty and granting credit.

The open and versatile platform fits easily into the existing architecture of the core systems and comes already integrated with the latest fintech to enable financial institutions to innovate at scale by taking advantage of all available technologies.

We are happy to expand our presence in Italy, where the banking sector is going through a moment of profound transformation. We are convinced that a single Engagement Banking Platform can help Italian banks to consolidate their presence in the market and provide the unique digital experience their customers demand. Using our platform, the average cost of developing a customer journey is 50% lower than the traditional approach. Furthermore, we estimate that banks can save up to 60% on the total cost of use and management (TCO) of digital channels.

_{Matthijs Eijpe
Regional Vicepresident}

Alessandro Fragapane has been appointed Country Manager to lead Backbase's growth in Italy. After more than 15 years at Oracle and various experiences in digital transformation in the services sector, through the development of innovative business solutions based on application platforms, Alessandro Fragapane is ideally placed to oversee and direct the development of Backbase with partners and banks in Italy.

Backbase offers a totally innovative approach to the phenomenon of financial digitalization that is spreading in Italy and the rest of Europe. The role of traditional banks will be decisive for the future of banking services, provided that they are able to cope with the fintech advance, focusing more on the customer experience and lending to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses. Backbase provides a specialist consultancy service in redefining customer journeys and the best platform available on the market to address these challenges.

_{Alessandro Fragapane
Country Manager, Backbase}

On the appointment of Alessandro Fragapane, Matthijs Eijpe said, "We are thrilled to welcome Alessandro to our team. He is the right person for the position and will play a strategic role in our development in Italy. The country is strategic for us, Italian banks are rapidly moving towards new scenarios and are ready to face the new digital competitors entering the scene. As a long-term partner of financial innovation, we are here to help the traditional credit market regain initiative and competitiveness.”

At the same time as Alessandro Fragapane's appointment, Backbase inaugurated its Italian office in Milan, via Bastioni di Porta Nuova 21.