Stancer expands into Italy to target SME payments market

By Parth Prabhudesai

European payments FinTech Stancer has announced its expansion into Italy, marking a strategic step in its broader European growth plans. The move follows the Iliad Group’s recent launch of cloud operations in the country through Scaleway, further strengthening its regional digital infrastructure.

Stancer’s Italian operations will be led by Alberto Rescigno, who will oversee market entry, local team development, and business expansion. The company aims to target small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), freelancers, and e-commerce businesses with its simplified, omnichannel payment solutions.

The FinTech offers a unified platform that supports both online and in-person transactions, including Tap to Pay via smartphones. Its model focuses on flexibility, removing fixed fees, long-term contracts, and rigid subscriptions—features often associated with traditional payment providers.

“Italy is a particularly attractive market, combining the growth of digital payments with an economic fabric in which micro, small and medium-sized enterprises account for 99.9% of all non-financial sector businesses,” said Alberto Rescigno, General Manager for Italy. “Our offering is designed to provide flexible, simple, and transparent services that respond effectively to the needs of these businesses.”

Italy represents a strong growth opportunity, with cashless transactions exceeding €500 billion since 2015 and accounting for 46.5% of total consumption. The sector generated €17.7 billion in revenues and €9.4 billion in added value as of 2024, highlighting increasing adoption of digital payments.

Stancer also emphasised its fully European infrastructure, with proprietary payment technology developed in-house and hosted within Iliad Group data centres. This ensures compliance with regional regulations, including GDPR.

“This allows all data to remain in Europe and be subject exclusively to European regulatory standards,” said George Owen, CEO of Stancer.

Currently processing over 250,000 daily transactions and €1.7 billion annually, Stancer plans to expand in Italy through partnerships with banks, trade bodies, and technology providers.