UniCredit, the pan-European business financial institution, has accomplished its acquisition of Belgium-based digital financial institution Aion Financial institution and Vodeno, the cloud-native core banking system.
Having initially introduced the transfer in July 2024, UniCredit has now closed the transaction, through which it acquires your complete share capital of Aion Financial institution and Vodeno for €376million. The transfer aligns with the acceleration section of the UniCredit ‘Unlocked’ technique, which permits the financial institution to speed up its development, coming into new markets, companies and consumer segments.
The transaction marks an acceleration of the financial institution’s exercise within the digital banking house, standing as one of many first strikes by a financial institution to amass full possession of a brand new expertise (with none dependencies from third-party suppliers), guaranteeing robust differentiation from pure expertise suppliers, neobanks and incumbents present process digital transformation.
Andrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit, stated: “Our dedication to always delivering finest at school returns and distributions sustainable over time is completely balanced with our dedication to investing in our future.
“Inside this context Aion Financial institution and Vodeno is an funding each in enhancing our personal technological functionality – by way of the acquisition of a confirmed crew that has developed probably the most fashionable and versatile core banking techniques round – and in our enterprise, enabling us to develop considerably by way of coming into new markets, companies and consumer segments.”
By means of the mixed capabilities of Aion Financial institution and Vodeno, UniCredit now has entry to a scalable and versatile cloud-based platform, based mostly on API connectivity and with good contract expertise inbuilt – all of which could be built-in with the processes and procedures of a fully-fledged financial institution.
Eyeing up European growth
Following this acquisition, UniCredit will even profit from Vodeno’s expertise and skills. It says these will allow it to develop a variety of recent merchandise and combine exterior options, whereas bettering time-to-market in creating and testing new options to additional penetrate focused purchasers’ segments and to enter in new international locations.
Past leveraging Aion Financial institution’s ECB banking licence and established mobile-first providing for retail and SME purchasers, UniCredit will look to develop Aion Financial institution and Vodeno’s current Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) providing throughout key European markets, together with Germany and Poland. This might see the financial institution embed its providers – starting from account entry and deposits to lending, funds and loyalty applications – immediately into non-banking digital platforms, facilitating seamless buyer experiences.
UniCredit additionally plans to progressively make investments as much as €200million, with an purpose of including 2.5 million purchasers, attaining a ROAC above 25 per cent and a value earnings ratio of 34 per cent inside three years.
