Payment methods in Italy

Europe

5methods

15banks

Italians prefer digital payment methods. They use cards to pay for just 31% of their online purchases.

Market takeaways

Italians prefer digital payment methods. They use cards to pay for just 31% of their online purchases.
Italians buy 10% of their retail purchases online. The country's e-commerce market is worth US$56 billion, rising to US$82 billion by 2027.
The average Italian spends US$1,007 a year with e-commerce merchants. By 2027, this will have risen to US$1,480.
Almost a fifth of all the items Italians buy online come from merchants based outside Italy.
Italians make 40% of all their online purchases using a mobile device.

Population

60M

Online population

55.8M

B2C e-commerce

$51B

Banked population

96%

Credit card population

49%

E-commerce of total retail

10%

Payment method breakdown

Card31%
Cash4%
Bank Transfer13%
E-Wallet35%
Other17%

Card scheme breakdown

Visa33%
Mastercard22%
American Express1%
Local schemes45%
Other0%

Cross-border e-commerce

Cross-border shoppers

75%

Share of e-commerce

18%

Cross-border value (est.)

$9.2B

Featured payment methods in Italy

Popular options based on coverage and prominence in this market.

Satispay

Italian smartphone payment network independent of cards, used for in-store, online and P2P payments. Operator: Satispay S.p.A.. Est. users: 5.5M users (2024).

Bancomat Pay

Italian bank-backed mobile payment service tied to current accounts for P2P, in-store and online payments. Operator: BANCOMAT S.p.A.. Est. users: 11.5M registered users (2024).

Scalapay

Italian buy-now-pay-later provider offering interest-free instalments at online and in-store checkouts. Operator: Scalapay S.r.l. / Incremento SPV. Est. users: 4M active customers (2024).

Maestro

Maestro is Mastercard's international debit scheme; new issuance ended July 2023 and remaining cards are being replaced by Debit Mastercard, with only limited e-commerce support. Operator: Mastercard. Est. users: historically hundreds of millions (cards expire by 2027).

MyBank

A payment method preferred by consumers in San Marino for secure and seamless transactions.

All payment methods in Italy

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Featured banks in Italy

Major institutions operating in this market.

ING Group

Amsterdam, Netherlands

ING Group is the Netherlands' largest bank and a leading European financial institution. It operates a digital-first universal banking model across Europe and globally.

BNP Paribas

Paris, France

BNP Paribas is France's largest bank and a global top-10 financial institution, providing retail, corporate, and investment banking, insurance, and asset management across 65 countries.

Crédit Agricole Group

Paris, France

Crédit Agricole is the world's largest cooperative bank and France's second-largest financial group. It provides retail, corporate, insurance, and asset management services in France and internationally.

Intesa Sanpaolo

Turin, Italy

Intesa Sanpaolo is Italy's largest bank and one of the Eurozone's leading financial institutions, providing retail, corporate, and investment banking in Italy and across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

UniCredit

Milan, Italy

UniCredit is a pan-European commercial bank headquartered in Milan with a strong presence in Italy, Germany, Austria, and Central & Eastern Europe, serving 15 million clients.

Banco BPM

Milan, Italy

Banco BPM is Italy's third-largest bank by assets, formed from the merger of Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano. It offers retail, corporate, and investment banking.