Business & Technology

CBI posts 14% revenue rise as payment services grow

Published

3 months ago

May 7, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

KAREN JOY BACUDO

Finance Editor

CBI reported a 14% rise in 2025 revenue and an EBITDA margin of 21%. The group’s shareholders approved the results.

Growth was driven by a mix of payment and data services used by banks, payment service providers and public bodies. CBI also published its 2025 Impact Report alongside the annual results.

Among the main contributors was CBI Name Check, a verification-of-payee service that checks whether a beneficiary’s name matches an IBAN before a payment is made. The service has averaged 150 million checks a month since going live across the European Economic Area in October 2025.

Check IBAN also expanded during the year. The service, which verifies matches between IBANs and VAT numbers in real time, recorded 36% growth from 2024 and passed 28 million cumulative checks.

CBILL, CBI’s platform for online bill and tax payments, processed more than 100 million transactions, up 9% year-on-year. CBI Globe – Active Functionality, which allows payment service providers to operate as third-party providers under PSD2, posted more than 70% year-over-year activity growth.

The group also highlighted the launch of Request to Pay, a system for handling digital collections. The service forms part of a broader push to expand CBI’s role in open finance and payments infrastructure.

CBI serves more than 400 financial institutions and payment service providers and has operated in the sector for more than three decades. The Bank of Italy supervises it and acts as a critical provider of infrastructure or services within the country’s financial system.

The results come as financial groups across Europe face tighter regulatory requirements and continued demand for digital payment tools, account verification services and shared infrastructure. CBI’s business model centres on providing common platforms that banks and other providers can use across payments, transaction banking, electronic bill presentment and open finance.

At the shareholders’ meeting, CBI also set out its strategic direction for the coming years. It aims to strengthen its international presence, broaden its open finance offering, and participate in broader industry changes, including digital identity services and European payment projects.

Salvatore Maccarone, President of CBI, linked the latest performance to that strategy.

“In 2025, not only did CBI ensure continuity in its planned activities, but it also broadened its scope of action, laying the foundations for developments that will guide us over the medium to long term,” said Salvatore Maccarone, President of CBI.

“In line with the 2025-2028 strategic plan approved last year, our objective is to strengthen our international footprint, broaden our range of solutions in the open finance space and play an active role in system-wide transformations, such as digital identity services and European payment initiatives. These include the Digital Euro, an ambitious project representing one of the most significant efforts in financial harmonisation and innovation currently underway in the European Union,” he added.

Clearing system

Another part of the plan is the development of CBI-Comp, a multilateral clearing system for domestic retail payments. The platform will handle cheques, commercial collections and card transactions.

The project would move CBI deeper into the core of Italy’s banking system, extending its role from overlay services such as bill payments and account checks to transaction processing. It reflects the group’s focus on operational continuity and governance in critical banking infrastructure.

Liliana Fratini Passi, Managing Director of CBI, said the clearing system marked an important step in that effort.

“The development of the new CBI-Comp multilateral clearing system shows our ability to manage a critical infrastructure for the operational continuity of the banking system, ensuring resilience, reliability, and full industrial governance,” said Liliana Fratini Passi, Managing Director of CBI.

“In recent months, we have further reinforced our role as a key enabler of innovation within the financial system. The results achieved by mature services such as CBILL, as well as open finance initiatives including CBI Name Check, confirm the effectiveness of a strategy based on coopetition, responsible technological innovation and international expansion. At the Shareholders’ Meeting, we also presented our Impact Report, which clearly outlines CBI’s commitment as a Società Benefit and the value we have delivered to the banking sector in terms of measurable ESG impact for the banks we collaborate with,” she added.

Impact report

The 2025 Impact Report outlines the company’s work since adopting Società Benefit status, a legal form in Italy that combines profit-making aims with public benefit objectives. It is intended to show how CBI seeks to create long-term value for the financial sector and other stakeholders through social and environmental goals, as well as commercial activity.

For CBI, that adds a governance and reporting layer to a year defined mainly by expansion in transaction volumes and verification services. The latest figures show rising usage across several core products, led by account and payee checks as fraud controls and payment confirmation tools become more common across European financial markets.

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Business & Technology

Historic coin company enters administration after 20 years

Published

11 minutes ago

August 8, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

The London Mint Office, which distributes commemorative coins and medals, appointed administrators on July 31 after 20 years in business.

The company’s website now displays a message confirming the appointment of Michael Magnay and Jonny Marston of Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP as joint administrators.

A spokesman for Alvarez and Marsal said: “On July 31 2026, Michael Magnay and Jonny Marston of Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP were appointed as Joint Administrators of The London Mint Office Limited in administration (the “Company”).

“Regrettably, the Company’s liquidity challenges have led to a number of immediate redundancies. We are supporting the affected employees through the redundancy process.

What Happens When a Company Goes Into Administration?

“The affairs, business and property of the Company are being managed by the Joint Administrators who act as agents of the Company and without personal liability.”

The announcement confirms that it is no longer possible to purchase coins or medals through the company’s website.

The London Mint Office operates a distribution centre in Tonypandy, Rhondda Cynon Taf, where it employs a significant number of people.

Administration is a formal insolvency process triggered when a business cannot meet its financial obligations.

An insolvency practitioner is appointed to manage the company’s affairs and may attempt to restructure the business or sell off assets to repay creditors.

What happens when a company goes into Liquidation?

Founded in 2006, The London Mint Office describes itself as “one of the UK’s most trusted suppliers of historic, commemorative, and collector coins.”

It is part of Samlerhuset AS, a Norwegian company based near Oslo and one of Europe’s largest distributors of commemorative coins and medals.

Samlerhuset’s website states that it offers “provide a wide range of coins from ancient to modern, originating from virtually every country in the world.”

The London Mint Office has advised anyone with an interest in the company’s assets to contact the administrators at INS_THLMOL@alvarezandmarsal.com.

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Business & Technology

Warning of new rules for Aldi and Lidl after watchdog review

Published

1 hour ago

August 8, 2026

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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally decided that both discounters should be added to the Groceries Market Investigation (Controlled Land) Order 2010, which currently applies to Asda, Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose.

This order is designed to prevent large grocery retailers from using land agreements to block competitors from opening nearby stores, often through restrictive covenants or exclusivity terms.

Juliette Enser, executive director of competition enforcement and markets at the CMA, said: “We want everyone to have the best choice of supermarket and range of prices when buying their groceries.

“To ensure this happens, we put rules in place to prevent big supermarket chains blocking rival stores from opening nearby – and now we propose applying those rules to Aldi and Lidl too.

“This is about allowing shoppers to choose where they spend their money and levelling the playing field for all major supermarkets.

“Today’s proposals are provisional and we welcome views before deciding the best way forward.”

The CMA’s review found that Aldi, Lidl GB, and Lidl NI now meet the criteria of ‘Large Grocery Retailers’ (LGRs) due to their store footprint, nationwide presence, procurement model, and the breadth of their grocery range.

Aldi and Lidl were originally excluded from the 2010 order as ‘limited assortment discounters’, offering a smaller selection of products compared to traditional supermarkets.

However, the CMA’s provisional findings indicate that this is no longer the case.

All three now operate large grocery stores, each with more than 1,000 square metres of shop floor space, and offer a full range of products, though with less category choice than some competitors.

They also purchase goods directly from suppliers through integrated wholesaling.

With the UK grocery market estimated to be worth £215 billion, Aldi and Lidl are now ranked among the top five retailers by market share.

The CMA is seeking feedback from stakeholders before reaching a final decision.

Aldi and Lidl could join the other supermarket chains later this year.

The CMA is inviting views until 5pm on Monday, September 7, 2026, and will issue its final decision in the autumn after reviewing responses.

If the discounters are included under the order, they will be prevented from using land agreements to limit competition from other supermarket chains.

The CMA aims to ensure competition across the grocery sector to give shoppers more choice and competitive pricing by removing obstacles to new store openings.

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Business & Technology

Full list of postcodes experiencing Royal Mail delays

Published

2 hours ago

August 8, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

If you have ordered something that is being sent through Royal Mail, it might be arriving a little later than usual.

Royal Mail deliveries are currently facing delays in areas including Bedford, Deal, Huntingdon, and Llangefni.

Here are all of the postcodes across England and Wales that are currently experiencing delays.

What postcodes are experiencing Royal Mail delays?

Royal Mail posts its service updates to keep its customers aware of any issues happening at its local offices.

The delivery company said: “We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week.

“In a small number of local offices, this may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as high levels of sick absence, resourcing, or other local factors.

“In those cases, we will rotate deliveries to minimise the delay to individual customers.

“We also provide targeted support to those offices to address their challenges and restore our service to the high standard our customers would normally receive.”

The full list of postcodes affected: