# Italy — payment codes and schemes

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/IT
> extracted at 2026-10-03
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

## Summary

- **PagoPA** is Italy's national public payments platform with standardized QR codes for government/utility payments
- **BANCOMAT Pay** is the leading mobile payment system (31% market share, 11.5M users)
- **TIPS** was developed and is operated by Banca d'Italia for pan-European instant payments
- Italy uses multiple payment slip standards: PagoPA QR, MAV, RAV, and traditional bollettini
- Strong fintech presence with **Satispay** and **MyBank** offering QR-based payments

## Banking landscape

### Central Bank
- **Name:** Banca d'Italia
- **Website:** https://www.bancaditalia.it/
- **Role:** Also operates TIPS for the Eurosystem

### Major Banks (2024)

| Rank | Bank Name | Total Assets (EUR) | Market Share | Type |
|------|-----------|-------------------|--------------|------|
| 1 | Intesa Sanpaolo | ~869,000 M | ~28% | Commercial |
| 2 | UniCredit SpA | 803,510 M | 12.47% | Commercial |
| 3 | Banco BPM | 195,430 M | ~6% | Commercial |
| 4 | BPER Banca | ~130,000 M | ~4% | Commercial |
| 5 | Mediobanca | ~90,000 M | ~3% | Investment |
| 6 | Monte dei Paschi di Siena | ~120,000 M | ~4% | Commercial |
| 7 | BNL (BNP Paribas) | 102,860 M | 3.37% | Commercial |

**Market Leaders:** Intesa Sanpaolo (€79B market cap) and UniCredit dominate
**Note:** Potential UniCredit + Banco BPM merger would create largest Italian bank (~€1T assets)

### Corporate Banking Penetration (2024)
- Intesa Sanpaolo: 95%
- UniCredit: High
- BNP Paribas: High

---

## Payment infrastructure

### National Payment Systems

| System | Operator | Type | Status |
|--------|----------|------|--------|
| TIPS | Banca d'Italia (for ECB) | Instant payments | Active (Nov 2018) |
| PagoPA | pagoPA S.p.A./Poste Italiane | Public payments | Active (2012) |
| BANCOMAT | BANCOMAT S.p.A. | Card/Mobile | Active |
| MyBank | EBA Clearing/Banks | Online transfer | Active |

### TIPS (TARGET Instant Payment Settlement)
- **Operator:** Banca d'Italia (sole service provider for Eurosystem)
- **Partners:** Deutsche Bundesbank, Banque de France, Banco de España (4CBs)
- **Launched:** November 2018
- **Capacity:** 500 payments/second (43M transactions/day)
- **Availability:** 24/7/365
- **Cost:** €0.002 per transaction (no account fees)
- **Limits:** None on payment amounts

### PagoPA
- **Operator:** pagoPA S.p.A. (state-owned, being acquired by Poste Italiane)
- **Launched:** 2012
- **Volume:** >1 billion transactions since launch
- **Total Value:** >€225 billion
- **Average Transaction:** €203
- **Use Case:** All payments to public administration

### BANCOMAT Pay
- **Users:** 11.5 million registered
- **Cards:** 37 million PagoBANCOMAT cards
- **Banks:** 122 Italian banks
- **Merchants:** 385,000+
- **Market Share:** 31% of mobile payments
- **Cross-border:** Interoperable with Spain (Bizum) and Portugal (MB WAY) via EuroPA

---

## QR code standards

### PagoPA QR Code (Primary for Public Payments)

| Attribute | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| **Standard Name** | PagoPA QR |
| **Barcode Type** | QR Code (ISO/IEC 18004:2015) |
| **Operator** | pagoPA S.p.A. |
| **Version** | 002 |
| **Use Case** | Public administration, taxes, fees, utilities |

#### Data Structure
```
PAGOPA|002|[CODICE_AVVISO]|[CODICE_FISCALE_ENTE]|[IMPORTO]
```

| Field | Description | Format |
|-------|-------------|--------|
| Header | Fixed identifier | "PAGOPA" |
| Version | Standard version | "002" |
| Codice Avviso | Payment notice code | 18 digits (starts with 3000...) |
| Codice Fiscale | Creditor tax code | 11 digits |
| Importo | Amount | Cents of euro |
| Separator | Field delimiter | "|" (pipe) |

#### Associated Codes
| Code Type | Description |
|-----------|-------------|
| IUV | Unique Payment Identifier (on notice) |
| QR Code | For apps and physical POS |
| CBILL | For home banking payments |

### BANCOMAT Pay QR

| Attribute | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| Type | Merchant QR |
| Use Case | POS payments, P2P |
| Authentication | PIN or biometrics |
| Integration | Direct bank account link |

### Satispay QR

| Attribute | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| Type | Merchant QR |
| Users | 3.5 million |
| Growth | 50% YoY |
| Conversion Rate | 91% |
| Use Cases | P2P, retail, online, public services |

### MyBank QR

| Attribute | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| Type | Payment initiation QR |
| Banks | 400+ in network |
| Use Cases | E-commerce, invoices, pay-on-delivery |
| Major Banks | Intesa, UniCredit, MPS, BCC, Banca Sella |

### EPC QR Code (Growing Adoption)

| Attribute | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| Status | Supported but not primary |
| Use Case | SEPA credit transfers |
| Format | BCD standard |

---

## Mobile payment apps

| App Name | Bank | PagoPA QR | BANCOMAT Pay | P2P | Notes |
|----------|------|-----------|--------------|-----|-------|
| Intesa Sanpaolo Mobile | Intesa | Yes | Yes | Yes | Instant transfers |
| UniCredit Mobile | UniCredit | Yes | Yes | Yes | Open Banking support |
| BancoPosta | Poste Italiane | Yes | Yes | Yes | PostePay integration |
| Banca Sella | Sella | Yes | Yes | Yes | MyBank integrated |
| Widiba | MPS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Digital-first |

### Key App Features
- **PagoPA Integration:** All major apps support QR scanning for public payments
- **BANCOMAT Pay:** P2P transfers via phone number
- **Instant Transfers:** SEPA Instant via TIPS
- **Bollettino Scanning:** MAV, RAV, CBILL support
- **Open Banking:** Multi-bank account aggregation

---

## Third-party payment apps

| App Name | Type | QR Payment | Users | Features |
|----------|------|------------|-------|----------|
| Satispay | Mobile wallet | Yes | 3.5M | P2P, retail, PagoPA |
| MyBank | Bank redirect | Yes | - | 400+ banks |
| Apple Pay | NFC wallet | Limited | High | Card-based |
| Google Pay | NFC wallet | Limited | High | Card-based |
| PayPal | Online | Limited | High | Card/bank |

### Satispay Features
- Direct bank account connection
- QR code payments at retail
- P2P transfers
- Tax payments (PagoPA)
- Mobile top-ups
- 91% conversion rate

### MyBank Features
- No registration required
- Bank-level security
- QR code on invoices/websites
- Authorization in bank app

---

## Schemes

| Scheme | Type | Symbology | Adoption | Technical standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [PagoPA QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/IT/pagopa-qr) | Payment QR | QR Code | Mandatory | [`pagopa-qr`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/pagopa-qr) |
| [BANCOMAT Pay QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/IT/bancomat-pay-qr) | Payment QR | QR Code | 122 banks | [`bancomat-pay`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/bancomat-pay) |
| [MyBank QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/IT/mybank-qr) | Initiation QR | QR Code | 400+ banks | [`mybank-qr`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/mybank-qr) |
| [Satispay QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/IT/satispay-qr) | Payment QR | QR Code | 3.5M users | [`satispay-qr`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/satispay-qr) |
| [MAV/RAV](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/IT/mav) | Reference code | Numeric | Legacy | — |
| [EPC QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/IT/epc-qr) | Payment QR | QR Code | Growing | [`epc-qr`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/epc-qr) |

## Sources

- [Banca d'Italia - TIPS](https://www.bancaditalia.it/compiti/sistema-pagamenti/pagamenti-tips/index.html)
- [Stripe - PagoPA Guide](https://stripe.com/resources/more/public-administration-payments-in-itay)
- [N26 - What is PagoPA](https://n26.com/en-it/blog/pagopa-how-does-it-work)
- [BANCOMAT Pay Official](https://bancomat.it/en/bancomat-pay)
- [TheBanks.eu - Italy Major Banks](https://thebanks.eu/countries/Italy/major_banks)
- [PPRO - Satispay](https://www.ppro.com/payment-methods/satispay/)
- [MyBank - How to Pay](https://mybank.eu/how-to-pay-with-mybank/)
- [AgID - PagoPA Technical Guide](https://www.agid.gov.it//sites/default/files/repository_files/regole_tecniche/guidatecnica_avvisoanalogico_1_0_1_0.pdf)
- [Electronic Payments International - PagoPA Sale](https://www.electronicpaymentsinternational.com/news/pagopa-poste-italiane/)
- [BANCOMAT - EuroPA Initiative](https://bancomat.it/en/press-releases/bancomat-bizum-mbway-instant-transactions-launch)

## Full country report

[IT-italy.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/IT)