INTESA SANPAOLO SPA

INTESA SANPAOLO SPA is one of the big Italian banking groups, and the useful thing about it is the plain breadth of what it does: retail banking, mortgages, lending to companies, wealth management and other mainstream financial services. By our assessment, that breadth is the main strength, because it makes the group relevant to households and firms at the same time. The trade-off is complexity, since large banks can feel remote, layered and full of rules, forms and internal steps. In practice it is the kind of bank people use for accounts, cards, loans and investment products, with all the paperwork that a universal bank carries. Compared with a small local lender it offers far more scope; compared with a specialist fintech it is slower and less playful. The name sits at the heavy end of European banking, and the job is serious rather than flashy.