The story of UniCredit & Plug and Play
UniCredit decided to work with Plug and Play given our extensive experience in Fintech and our flexible approach to innovation. Find out more.
- FintechVertical
- 2019Year they joined the platform
- ≈500Startups introduced
- 15Dealflow sessions
- 8Pilots
Strengthening Their Innovation Efforts
We started working with UniCredit back in 2018. This pan-European Commercial Bank was strengthening its external innovation efforts through its Fintech Orchestration & Strategy team. As a result of this, they reached out to us with a partnership proposal given our global reach, experience in Fintech, and flexible approach to innovation. Plug and Play met all their requirements.
UniCredit joined Plug and Play as a founding partner and the first financial institution to be part of the Plug and Play Hub in Milan. The bank is also a strategic partner for Plug and Play's Fintech Europe Hub in Frankfurt.
UniCredit has been bestowed the Global Innovation Award by Plug and Play for continued innovation efforts and high engagement with fintechs throughout 2020.
The Value of Open Innovation
“New technologies and consumer behaviors are forcing banks to act,” said Marco Pusterla, Head of Innovation Orchestration and Fintech Strategy at UniCredit. “Those who make the most of innovation will be the ones able to compete and keep up, seen as defining internal innovation strategies is not enough. This is where open innovation and collaboration come into play.”
Innovation thrives through collaboration, and that’s why at Plug and Play we bring together companies like UniCredit with startups, venture capitalists, and more.
“Most of the challenges we have are the same for our competitors,” said Pusterla. “Being exposed to an open innovation platform allows us to stay ahead.”
“Open innovation is a win-win model. We see it as a necessary step to remain competitive.” — Marco Pusterla.
Working with startups
“We are strongly committed to constantly developing new products and services for our customers and to streamline our processes. We are therefore happy to partner with the right startups and fintechs in order to accelerate our digital transformation.
Our partnership with Plug and Play has been very valuable, as it allowed us to meet a large number of very promising fintechs. Working with them also gave us the opportunity to pilot and assess interesting solutions on an ongoing basis, and across a very wide spectrum, from retail to corporate and investment banking”
— Anna Elisabetta Riccardi (Fintech Strategy & Equity Investments)
Timeline
- 03/2019 - First trial Deep Dive session in Frankfurt
- 04/2019 - UniCredit joined our Fintech platforms in Milan and Frankfurt
- 04/2019 - First pilot project with Apiax, a Swiss startup specializing in RegTech.
- 09/2019 - Fifth pilot initiated
- 01/2021 - UniCredit participated in Plug and Play’s Fintech Europe EXPO, one of the biggest Fintech-focused events worldwide
- 02/2021 - UniCredit’s Chief Risk Officer joined a Finance & Control Roundtable organized by Plug and Play Fintech
- 04/2021 - Tech Forum Day keynote speech on the importance of SME Banking
Rethinking innovation in financial services.
We fast-track the innovation strategy of over 70 of the world's largest financial institutions. By joining Plug and Play, you will gain access to a vast network of 30,000+ startups, keep up with the latest industry trends, launch pilots, POCs, and much more.