Italy's Intesa expands digital investment offer in Belgium and Luxembourg

MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo said on Friday its Fideuram private banking arm was launching a digital investment offer partnering with BlackRock in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Intesa teamed up with BlackRock in 2024 to expand the offering of Fideuram Direct, the digital wealth management service it had launched two years earlier.

Fideuram Direct has reached 81,000 clients and 3.3 billion euros ($3.85 billion) in assets under management, Intesa said.

Through a mobile phone app, Fideuram Direct offers investment options such as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) from BlackRock's iShares, Europe's main ETF provider, it said.

Intesa plans to expand the digital service to include the support of advisers whom clients can contact remotely.

"The initiative ... strengthens the Private Banking Division's presence in the Belgian and Luxembourg markets, where it already operates through Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management," the bank said.

Intesa said that in Belgium more than 80% of people access banking services via apps at least once a month, and 26% report increased use of digital channels compared to the previous year.

BlackRock's People and Money Survey 2025 showed Belgium's ETF market had grown by 43% since 2022, Intesa said, adding that in Luxembourg, a financial hub, the client base was particularly inclined towards advanced digital platforms.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Alvise Armellini and Gavin Jones)