UniCredit, the pan-European commercial bank, has completed its acquisition of Belgium-based digital bank Aion Bank and Vodeno, the cloud-native core banking system.
Having originally announced the move in July 2024, UniCredit has now closed the transaction, in which it acquires the entire share capital of Aion Bank and Vodeno for €376million. The move aligns with the acceleration phase of the UniCredit ‘Unlocked’ strategy, which enables the bank to accelerate its growth, entering new markets, businesses and client segments.
The transaction marks an acceleration of the bank’s activity in the digital banking space, standing as one of the first moves by a bank to acquire full ownership of a new technology (without any dependencies from third-party providers), ensuring strong differentiation from pure technology providers, neobanks and incumbents undergoing digital transformation.
Andrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit, said: “Our commitment to constantly delivering best in class returns and distributions sustainable over time is perfectly balanced with our commitment to investing in our future.
“Within this context Aion Bank and Vodeno is an investment both in enhancing our own technological capability – through the acquisition of a proven team that has developed one of the most modern and flexible core banking systems around – and in our business, enabling us to grow significantly through entering new markets, businesses and client segments.”
Through the combined capabilities of Aion Bank and Vodeno, UniCredit now has access to a scalable and flexible cloud-based platform, based on API connectivity and with smart contract technology built in – all of which can be integrated with the processes and procedures of a fully-fledged bank.
Eyeing up European expansion
Following this acquisition, UniCredit will also benefit from Vodeno’s technology and talents. It says these will enable it to develop a range of new products and integrate external solutions, while improving time-to-market in developing and testing new solutions to further penetrate targeted clients’ segments and to enter in new countries.
Beyond leveraging Aion Bank’s ECB banking licence and established mobile-first offering for retail and SME clients, UniCredit will look to expand Aion Bank and Vodeno’s existing Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) offering across key European markets, including Germany and Poland. This would see the bank embed its services – ranging from account access and deposits to lending, payments and loyalty programs – directly into non-banking digital platforms, facilitating seamless customer experiences.
UniCredit also plans to progressively invest up to €200million, with an aim of adding 2.5 million clients, achieving a ROAC above 25 per cent and a cost income ratio of 34 per cent within three years.
