Intesa Sanpaolo invests €9 bilion in cloud services; aim is independence from the US and a revival of economic growth

Intesa Sanpaolo is investing €9 billion in cloud services in a bid to free itself from reliance on US tech giants. As reported by the Financial Times, after years in which European banks struggled to keep pace with their US counterparts dominating the market, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo, Spain’s Santander and France’s Société Générale are now helping to reinvigorate the sector.

A shifting European banking landscape

For more than fifteen years, European banks have lagged behind their US rivals. While major American banks expanded balance sheets and market valuations, European institutions were held back by weak economic growth, more cautious regulation and rising geopolitical tensions.

Today, however, the tide appears to be turning. At a time when Donald Trump’s America is putting pressure on transatlantic relations and loosening rules for Wall Street, three of Europe’s most ambitious banks are pursuing different paths to revive economic growth.

Top-performing institutions are now achieving returns on tangible equity close to 20%, while the Euro Stoxx banking index rose by 80% last year—more than double the average gain recorded by US banking groups.

Intesa Sanpaolo’s strategy: investing in cloud services

One particularly bold and significant move comes from Intesa Sanpaolo. The Italian bank has embarked on a €9 billion investment to transform itself into a cloud services provider—initially for internal use and, in the longer term, also for external clients. Beyond moving away from mainframe systems, the project aims to diversify technology sources, reducing dependence on US cloud giants.

Alongside services provided by Google and Microsoft, Intesa is developing its own capabilities, strengthening the group’s technological autonomy and contributing to European objectives promoted by the European Central Bank.

Santander and expansion in the United States

Another major development is Santander’s planned $12.2 billion acquisition of US lender Webster Financial. The announcement was met with caution by investors, given the mixed track record of European banks in the United States, marked by withdrawals and failed deals such as HSBC’s acquisition of Household and BNP Paribas’s purchase of Bank of the West.

Nevertheless, Santander’s executive chair Ana Botín believes this time will be different. Webster has deep roots in the north-eastern United States, giving the combined group a strong regional presence and an 8% local market share.

Webster’s low-cost deposit base would reduce Santander’s funding costs and mitigate risk in its auto loan portfolio. Promised cost cuts - equivalent to 58% of Webster’s overheads - appear ambitious, but the traditional efficiency of Spanish banks, with Santander’s cost-to-income ratio around 41%, makes the target plausible.

Through this deal, Santander could attract US customers dissatisfied with large domestic banking groups.

Société Générale and innovation in stablecoins

Société Générale is pursuing an equally innovative initiative. According to Jean-Marc Stenger, chief executive of the group’s digital assets arm SG Forge, it is currently the only bank in the world to have issued its own stablecoins, one pegged to the euro and one to the dollar. These digital currencies represent the natural evolution of the group’s earlier blockchain experiments in bonds and structured products, enabling faster, more efficient and lower-cost settlements than the use of cash.

Société Générale argues that its status as a fully regulated bank, subject to strict customer identification procedures, gives it a competitive advantage over current stablecoin market leaders such as Tether and Circle. The new European MiCA regulatory framework and the US Genius Act are expected to accelerate adoption of these instruments, and while other banks are testing similar solutions through partnerships, Société Générale appears - for now - to enjoy a clear first-mover advantage.

Individually, none of these initiatives is likely to revolutionise the system. Taken together, however, they point to renewed dynamism in the European banking sector. If this trajectory is sustained, the benefits could extend not only to shareholders but to the wider European economy as well.