Record turnover for fintech group Epipoli. Growth drivers are gift cards and prepaid cards.

Record turnover for fintech group Epipoli: ends 2022 at €215m (+42% vs 2021). Growth drivers are gift cards and prepaid cards.

The Group's development plan in Europe continues: a new office has been opened in Paris, alongside a new Swiss acquisition.

Epipoli, Italy's leading fintech group in payment and engagement systems, closes 2022 with consolidated revenues of €215 million, registering record growth of 42% compared to €151.2 million in 2021, with EBITDA increasing threefold year-on-year and a CAGR of 30.7% over the past four years.‍

Particular factors in driving Epipoli's growth were gift cards and prepaid cards conveyed in the more than 70,000 points of sale in Europe, and engagement, loyalty and welfare programs, the latter benefiting businesses throughout Italy that welcomed the legislation allowing a raise in bonuses that can be given to employees in the form of fringe benefits from 600 to 3,000 euros.

Today more than ever, such bonuses represent a key asset for corporate talent attraction and retention strategies, in the face of a labour market that in 2022 marked the year of the 'Great Resignation,' with a record 1.6 million resignations recorded in the first 9 months of the year, according to the Ministry of Labour.

This is also confirmed by the Welfare Index PMI 2022 Report, according to which 68% of Italian SMEs have entered into agreements to develop welfare plans at a basic level, while 24.7% of companies have set up more advanced and high-level welfare programs for their employees (vs. 10.3 % of SMEs in 2016).

The performance of the latest addition to prepaid products was also excellent: the Epipoli Prepaid Rechargeable Mastercard, which is celebrating its first year and has more than 25,000 customers. The card is the only one of its kind with no annual fee and allows those without bank accounts to use a product similar to a credit card by fostering both financial inclusion and a form of literacy in the cashless shopping style.  

The positive market trend also involved Epipoli's Engagement division, which recorded 38% growth through the implementation of loyalty and gamification programs for leading companies, including Arena Group, Arcaplanet, Bridgestone, Carrefour international, Coca Cola, Esselunga, Flowe, Nespresso, Samsung, Vodafone, and Wurth.

In 2023, the Group continues the positive trend of 2022, with revenues of €32 million in the first 2 months, registering a 65% increase over the previous year. Among the innovations in February, the company launched MyGiftCardPlusGreen, a digital card that allows people to give away services and products from ecofriendly brands, such as Enjoy, Trenitalia, Flixbus, Itabus, 3Bee, Treedom, Equotube, and many others that offer more sustainable lifestyles.

The company's strategy includes an ambitious growth plan for 2023, both by internally and externally, with an international development path and with the launch of new payment products in the retail sector. There are already 21 countries in which Epipoli offers its solutions. The Group also finalized the acquisition of a qualified minority stake in Offerz GmbH, a Swiss company operating in the B2B and B2C digital services market in the DACH countries, with sales of €25 million.

About Epipoli

Epipoli is one of the leading international prepaid payment networks with 400 Partners in more than 70,000 outlets in Europe, representing the link between the worlds of digital and physical point-of-sale.‍

Contact:            

Alice Brambilla
Barabino& Partners
a.brambilla@barabino.it  
+39 328.26.68.196

Letizia Castiello  
l.castiello@barabino.it
+39348.62.37.666