The performance of the SBU was positive.
Market revenue in 2021 amounted to € 882 million and showed growth of € 144 million with respect to December2020 (+19.6%) attributable to the positive contribution of the Telecommunications segment as well as the performance of the Card Payments segment and the Collection and Payment services.

The 2021 of the sector

Results and KPIs

PAYMENTS AND MOBILE
(€m)		20212020CHANGES
External revenue882737+144+19.6%
Revenue from other sectors319341(22)-6.4%
Total revenue1,2011,079+123+11.4%
Costs461435+26+6.1%
Costs vs other sectors459385+73-19.0%
Total costs920820+100+12.2%
EBIT282259+23+8.8%
EBIT Margin %23.4%24.0%
NET PROFIT425194+231-119.2%
Operating KPIs20212020CHANGES
Electronic Money
Total value of card transactions (“on us” and “off us”) (€m)*61,08648,761+12,325+25.3%
Total value of card transactions (“off us”) (€m)**49,44838,563+10,885+28.2%
Number of cards (m)***28.628.9(0.4)-1.3%
of which Postepay cards (m)21.121.7(0.6)-2.8%
of which Postepay Evolution cards (m)****8.47.7+0.7+9.3%
of which Postepay Green (thousands)30.1n/an/sn/s
of which Postepay Connect (thousands)418.1272.6+145.5+53.4%
Number of card transactions (m)2,0131,561+452+28.9%
of which number of e-commerce transactions (m)*****520397+123+31.0%
Instances of payments slips accepted on alternative channels( **) (%)40%34%
Instances of Postepay top-ups made on alternative channels( **) (%)80%76%
TLC
SIM PosteMobile landlines and mobile telephones (stock in thousand)4,7254,623102+2.2%
of which mobile Sim (stock in thousand)4,4274,380+47+1.1%
of which Casa Sim (stock in thousand)298243+56+22.9%
MNP (Mobile Number Portability) – terminations (in thousand)435528(93)-17.6%
DATA usage (GB per active SIM per month)7.95.7+2.1+37.5%
VOICE usage (min per active SIM per month)438.2444.8(6.6)-1.5%
Fibre contracts (activations in thousands)******28.4n/an/sn/s

n/a: not applicable
n/s: non significant
(**) Includes transactions made on Poste Italiane Retail and Business properties and on other digital channels
* Transaction relating to payments made with Postamat and Postepay on internal and external payment circuits (“on us” and “off us”).
** Transactions relating to payments made with Postamat and Postepay on external payment circuits (“off us”).
*** Includes Postepay cards and debit cards.
**** Includes business customers and Postepay Connect cards.
***** Includes e-commerce transactions + web (on Poste Italiane’s digital properties).
****** Customer base Fibra.

EXTERNAL REVENUE
(€ m)

ROAD TO 2024

“2024 Sustain & Innovate” Strategy

Innovative digital platform for an integrated payment, telephony and energy offering

  • Strengthening leadership in digital payments
  • New TLC offer, for both mobile and fixed lines
  • Energy services from 2022, leveraging market liberalisation and customer confidence
SEGMENT OPERATING REVIEW PILLAR
Monetics Marketing of Postepay Connect continued, the offer that integrates the Postepay Evolution prepaid card and the PosteMobile SIM in a single app, focussing on the Postepay Connect Back offer which allows users to receive cash back on their Postepay Evolution card for gigabytes not consumed.
As part of the Poste Italiane Group’s sustainability plan, the first biodegradable Postepay Green card was launched in March 2021. The new sustainable prepaid card, designed for the target aged 10 to 17 year, is made of biodegradable material and offers new functions for children and their parents, from “parental control” to the “pocket money” service. These services can be used from both web and app channels.
The new Postepay debit card has been launched. The card is valid for BancoPosta retail and business current accounts and will gradually replace the current BancoPosta debit card, thus guaranteeing account holders all the services currently available on the BancoPosta card, as well as the additional and differentiating elements of the Postepay ecosystem. The new Postepay Business debit card allows account holders to have cash back on the amount of transactions enabled, as well as more advanced features than the current card dedicated to the Business segment and which was expanded during 2021.
The enabling of LIS points of sale to accept bill payments through the Postepay Code47 has been completed.
The SoftPOS service48 was launched, with the courier SDA enabled as the first affiliated merchant.
In October, the Code WEB feature was relaunched in the Large Customers product range to standardise the user experience of the payment by Code service, whether online or in-store. The new feature allows customers to pay online by scanning the qr code on the website of affiliated merchants.
The partnership with ENI continued with the progressive activation at service stations participating in the offer of Postepay acquiring services (physical and digital POS through the Paga con Postepay solution, included in the ENI Station App).
The pilot project to implement the Acquiring AMEX499 service for physical and virtual payments was launched, with a view to enhancing the range of acquired services offered by Postepay and amplifying the use of AMEX cards.
In 2021 PostePay was awarded the sponsorship contract by the Italian Ministry of Education for the supply of the “The Student Card – the Study50.
Collections and Payments The possibility of paying the PA51 postal account slip at LIS52 and ENI affiliated merchants.
Innovative payments will be accepted using the Alipay53 circuit in post offices in areas with high numbers of Chinese residents, initially in Rome, Milan, Prato and Florence, with the project subsequently being rolled out to all post offices
Telecommunications Entry into the ultra broadband market, supplying fibre optic services through ultra broadband technologies: PostePay has launched PosteCasa Ultraveloce, the new “data only” offer, which can be subscribed to online, with a “full digital” process, which enables users to surf from home at the speed of fibre up to 1Gbps without limits. The offer also includes a second connection on the 4G network to surf immediately without limits and take WiFi everywhere, a WiFi modem and a USB key supplied on loan for free.
The migration process towards a new Mobile Host Operator (which does not require users to change SIM) launched in June and mainly completed (with 90% of SIMs migrated onto the new network) will concluded in early 2022.

47. An innovative acceptance service that allows participating merchants to collect payments ordered by the customer directly from their Postepay app, by framing the qr code (a two-dimensional bar code that stores information that can be read by a mobile phone, using a special application) displayed by the merchant.
48. The Tap on Phone technology (“SoftPos”) makes it possible to enable Android devices to authorise contactless payments of any value, through verification by PIN on the device, without the need for an additional hardware device.
49. On 5 May 2021 PostePay and American Express signed an agreement under which PostePay will provide promotional services to expand the commercial range of products to its customers, as well as services relating to the activation and operational management of POS terminals in stores to enable them to accept American Express Cards.
50. The project involves the distribution of prepaid multifunctional cards to secondary school students and the implementation of a platform to award scholarship grants into digital wallets which can be spent among the network of affiliated merchants. The aim is to introduce young people to the world of digital payments.
51. Bollettino Postale (Postal Slip) integrated in pagoPA payment notices that allows payments to be made to Public Administrations through standardised payment methods.
52. Legal entity that enables the network of affiliated tobacconists to offer Poste Italiane services to consumer customers (payment of slips and top-up of Postepay cards).
53. In partnership with Alipay, PostePay has developed new payment options, to allow users who have an Alipay wallet to make payments using the app with a qr code. Clients who choose to pay with an Alipay wallet can scan the qr generated on the PAD  display at the branch, authorising payment with the app by inserting their PIN or with biometric recognition.