CBI

What CBI does

CBI S.c.p.a. Benefit Corporation is an Italian consortium that has operated as the technological innovation hub of the Italian banking and financial industry for over 20 years, headquartered in Rome with a share capital of approximately €24.6 million. It provides payments infrastructure and open banking/open finance interoperability between banks, payment service providers (PSPs), corporates, and Italian public administration through standardized APIs and SEPA-aligned messaging protocols.

Its core product portfolio centers on the CBI Service (corporate banking interoperability), CBI Globe (an international open banking ecosystem covering 80%+ of the Italian banking industry and processing over 700 million API calls from 200+ AISP/PISP/CISP providers), and CBILL (a digital bill and pagoPA payment service that has processed over 364 million notices and served 13+ million citizens). Around these, CBI has built adjacent services including Check IBAN (28M+ verifications, 95% Italian industry coverage), CBI Name Check (Verification of Payee, aligned with the EU Instant Payments Regulation), CBI Safe Trade (invoice anti-fraud), Request to Pay, e-invoicing, and analytics products (Big Data, Dashboard), all delivered through the CBI Hub Cloud portal.

CBI monetizes through a hybrid of recurring membership/subscription fees from its 400+ PSP and bank members, usage-based transaction fees on services like CBILL and Check IBAN, licensing of standards and APIs (notably CBI Globe), and professional/implementation services. The company is governed as a Benefit Corporation (Società Benefit since 2023) with member financial institutions as shareholders, and distributes services via direct enterprise sales, consortium membership, a technical provider network, and strategic partnerships with Nexi, SIA, EBA CLEARING, SWIFT, SurePay, and others.

Name

CBI

Legal name

CBI S.c.p.a. Benefit Corporation

Website

https://cbi-org.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

CBI S.c.p.a. is an Italian payment infrastructure consortium providing open banking, interoperability, and digital payment services to 400+ banks and PSPs, ~3 million businesses, and 13+ million citizens across Italy and Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Banking and Payment Infrastructure

NAICS

Depository Credit Intermediation (5221)

SIC

Functions Related To Depository Banking, Nec (6099)

akta.pro primary industry

Open Banking APIs & Connectivity (FSAMAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Open Banking, Account Aggregation & Payment Initiation APIs (BPAMAFAJ), A2A Bill Pay & eInvoicing (Open Banking Enabled) (FSAMAFAL), A2A Fraud, Risk & Authentication (FSAMAFAI), Bank-to-Bank Transfers & Pay-by-Bank (Consumer & Merchant) (FSAMAFAC), A2A Collections & Direct Account Funding (FSAMAFAH)

Keywords

• Open banking infrastructure
• Payment processing services
• Open finance platform
• Digital payment verification
• Interbank connectivity services

Headquarters

HQ city

Roma

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership and Subscription Fees: Financial institutions and payment service providers pay membership or subscription fees to access CBI services and participate in the consortium infrastructure.
2. Transaction and Usage Fees: Fees are charged based on transaction volumes processed through services like CBILL, CBI Service, and Check IBAN, creating usage-based revenue streams.
3. Licensing and Service Fees: Technical providers and fintech partners pay licensing fees to access CBI platforms and standards, including CBI Globe API access for third-party providers.
4. Professional Services: Implementation support, consulting, and technical integration services provided to members and partners for service adoption and customization.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

CBI operates Italy's primary payment interoperability and open banking infrastructure, providing banks, payment service providers, corporates, and public administrations with standardized APIs, SEPA-compliant messaging, and cloud-based services for interbank payments, bill payments (CBILL), IBAN and beneficiary verification (Check IBAN, CBI Name Check), Request to Pay, e-invoicing, and analytics. Its CBI Globe open banking ecosystem enables third-party providers to access bank data and initiate payments, while CBI Hub Cloud delivers unified technical support and service management across the platform.

Product overview

CBI is a multi-service financial technology platform operating as a Benefit Corporation that offers a comprehensive portfolio of payment, banking, and fintech services. The core offerings include the CBI Service (corporate banking infrastructure), CBI Globe (international Open Banking ecosystem), and CBILL (digital payment service for bills and pagoPA notices). The platform provides anti-fraud services (CBI Safe Trade, CBI Name Check), payment verification (Check IBAN, Verification of Payee), Request to Pay capabilities, e-invoicing, and data analytics services (Big Data, Dashboard). The ecosystem reaches over 400 Payment Service Providers, approximately 3 million Italian businesses, and 13+ million citizens, covering 100% of domestic current accounts and the main international platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CBILL: Digital payment service for online payment of payment notices and pagoPA bills
• CBI Globe
• CBI Name Check
• Check IBAN
• CBI Safe Trade
• CBI Hub Cloud

Products and services

• CBI Service Core corporate banking interoperability infrastructure providing standardized interbank communication for Italian banking and financial industry transactions, used by member banks and PSPs.
• CBILL Digital payment service enabling rapid and secure online payment of bills and pagoPA payment notices for Italian citizens through participating banks; processes 364+ million bills and notices and serves 13+ million citizens.
• CBI Globe International Open Banking ecosystem for fintech services providing standardized APIs for AISP/PISP/CISP third-party providers; supporting data sharing, payment initiation, and advanced fintech innovation.
• CBI Name Check Verification of Payee service that performs real-time matching between beneficiary name and IBAN to prevent payment fraud and reduce misdirected transfers, aligned with EU Instant Payments Regulation.
• Check IBAN IBAN validation and verification service used by Italian and European financial institutions to confirm bank account details before processing payments.
• CBI Safe Trade Invoice control and anti-fraud service that optimizes invoice management, verifies invoices, and prevents fraudulent activities for corporates and financial institutions.
• Request to Pay European-standard digital payment request service enabling PSPs to offer corporates advanced digital collection management across Italy and Europe.
• E-invoicing Electronic invoicing service that supports digital invoice processing and management for Italian public administration entities and corporates.
• Tax Registry Service providing payment service providers with access to Italian tax registry data for compliance and payment processing.
• Single Justice Fund Service managing Single Justice Fund payments between Italian public administration and citizens.
• Financial Monitoring Project Service supporting financial monitoring of public works financing for Italian public administration.
• Receivables Certification Service for the certification of receivables using CBI's infrastructure.
• I24 Payment service offered by CBI as part of its portfolio of financial-industry services.
• Big Data Data analytics service that processes large volumes of financial and commercial transaction data from multiple sources to deliver value-added insights for financial institutions and corporates.
• Dashboard Business intelligence dashboard for monitoring, visualization, and analysis of payment transactions and CBI service usage.
• CBI App to App Implementation framework providing app-to-app guidelines for PSD2-compliant integration of third-party providers with bank services.
• Mutuitel Digital platform for managing mortgage applications and processing, enabling digital loan-application workflows for banks.
• CBI-Comp Compliance-related service supporting financial institutions in meeting regulatory requirements via the CBI platform.
• Standards Technical standards service providing implementation guidelines for SEPA payment schemes and CBI technical specifications across the Italian financial industry.
• CBI Hub Cloud Cloud-based unified portal providing technical assistance, service management, and emergency technical support for the full CBI Service, PA Services, and CBILL portfolio.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 700 million API calls processed on CBI Globe platform
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

AI capability3 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.

• EBA CLEARING and NexicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026Partnership to launch Request to Pay for corporates, enabling Italian citizens to use request to pay functionality when paying public administration bills. EBA CLEARING provides the infrastructure while Nexi contributes payment processing capabilities.
• EBA CLEARING and NexicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 October 2025Partnership enabling Italian citizens to use Request to Pay when paying public administration bills, supported by EBA CLEARING's RTP infrastructure and Nexi's payment processing.
• ITAS MutuaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 January 2025Partnership to improve service to ITAS Mutua's insured members, integrating CBI payment services with insurance operations.
• SEPAmailmajorTechnology or Integration · 9 October 2024Partnership for CBI Name Check Verification of Payee service, enabling cross-border name verification capabilities through SEPAmail's infrastructure.
• BanficomajorTechnology or Integration · 24 September 2024Partnership to expand global reach of CBI Name Check Verification of Payee service, enabling international market coverage beyond Italy.
• SWIFTcoreTechnology or Integration · 20 September 2023Strategic partnership to expand CBI Name Check across Europe, leveraging SWIFT's global financial messaging network for international service reach.
• TeamSystemmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 March 2023Partnership to strengthen corporate Open Banking services, integrating CBI services into TeamSystem's business management software for Italian companies.
• AlmawavemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 December 2022Partnership to offer new fintech services to Italian banks, combining Almawave's AI and analytics capabilities with CBI's open finance infrastructure.
• SurePaymajorTechnology or Integration · 6 July 2022Partnership to expand Check IBAN with VAT number verification to Italian and European markets, leveraging SurePay's IBAN verification technology.
• CSE and NeximinorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 November 2021Partnership to develop advanced digital services in open banking with CSE (Credit Suisse-backed company) and Nexi.
• Nexi and SIAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 September 2021Launch of CBI Hub Cloud project with Nexi and SIA, creating a unified cloud platform for CBI services management and support.
• CRIFmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 July 2021Strategic partnership in Open Finance to enable new services leveraging CRIF's credit bureau data and CBI's open banking infrastructure.
• Ernst & Young S.p.A.minorOthersExternal auditing firm providing financial statement audits and advisory services to CBI.
• UN/CEFACTcoreOthersCBI participates in UN/CEFACT (United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business) activities. Liliana Fratini Passi serves as Vice Chair of UN/CEFACT, influencing international payment standards.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• SWIFT: Global financial messaging network and CBI's strategic partner on Name Check Europe expansion. Operates much broader messaging infrastructure but increasingly overlaps with CBI in payment verification and cross-border open banking.
• Worldline: European payments giant offering merchant acquiring, account-to-account payments, and open banking-adjacent services. Comparable to CBI's PSP-facing infrastructure role but at continental scale with broader product breadth.
• Nexi: Italian payment processing leader and CBI's core infrastructure partner (CBI Hub Cloud, Request to Pay). Competes with CBI in merchant and corporate payment services while co-creating the underlying rails, making it both a partner and an adjacent incumbent.

Direct peers

• Plaid: Global open banking/data connectivity platform providing standardized APIs to banks and fintechs. Competes with CBI Globe on the underlying API connectivity layer that enables AISP/PISP/CISP services across financial institutions.
• Tink: Visa-owned open banking platform offering PSD2-compliant account aggregation and payment initiation APIs across Europe. Competes directly with CBI Globe for third-party provider connectivity in Italy and pan-European bank coverage.
• EBA CLEARING: Pan-European payment systems operator running RT1 (instant payments) and Euro1. EBA CLEARING is CBI's partner on Request to Pay infrastructure and competes/cooperates as a horizontal payment-rail provider to European PSPs and banks.
• Banfico: Open banking/GPI services provider and CBI's partner on global expansion of CBI Name Check. Competes in verification of payee and open banking API orchestration across European and international markets.
• TrueLayer: European open banking API platform offering account aggregation, payment initiation, and identity services. A direct competitor to CBI Globe's PSD2-aligned connectivity and a likely counter-bidder for Italian bank API relationships.
• SurePay: Dutch VoP/IBAN verification provider and CBI's partner on Check IBAN cross-border expansion. Competes with CBI Name Check in Verification of Payee across European markets and operates on comparable rails.
• Salt Edge: Open banking API aggregator offering bank connectivity, account aggregation, and PSD2-compliant AISP/PISP services across multiple European countries — directly comparable to CBI Globe's open banking functionality.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/CBIScpa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cbi-scpa
• Instagraminstagram.com/serviziocbill
• Xx.com/CBI_Scpa

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CBI