Intesa Sanpaolo: An Italian Savings Powerhouse
Intesa Sanpaolo is the best-run bank in Italy, and with the benefit of higher interest rates, it is now one of the most profitable European banks we cover. Retail deposits make up the bulk of Intesa's funding. Retail, and especially sight deposits, tend not to track market interest rates. Zero or negative interest rates have obscured the benefit to Intesa of having a vast source of cheap funding for more than a decade. Rather than being a highly profitable product, deposit-taking became a loss-making activity.