Real-time FX comes to UniCredit’s app as fintech integrations prove their worth
UniCredit has partnered with Wise to upgrade its international payments offering, becoming the first Italian bank to provide foreign-currency transfers directly through its mobile app.
Announced on July 15, the new service will allow customers to convert Euros into a range of foreign currencies. At launch, supported currencies will include GBP, CHF, HKD, BLR, INR, SGD, THB, TRY, and VND, with additional routes already in development.
The rollout will begin in Italy on July 21, with plans to expand to other markets in the near future.
“Our mission is to transform payments into an agile, borderless experience, capable of moving with the speed and transparency of a fintech,” said Raphael Barisaac, Global Head of Payments & Cash Management at UniCredit.
“Our customers expect simple, fast and transparent solutions at an affordable cost, even when it comes to complex transactions such as international wire transfers. This new service was created to meet exactly these needs and represents a fundamental step in this direction.”
A new chapter for Italian banking
UniCredit’s claim to being the first Italian bank to offer real-time FX transfers through its mobile app is accurate. However, Italian residents have had access to similar services for some time, just not from their banks.
Fintech platforms like UK-based Revolut have long enabled low-cost, app-based currency transfers in Italy, complete with real-time exchange rates and upfront fees.
What makes UniCredit different is not the service itself, but the way it’s built directly into the bank’s app. It shows how traditional banks are starting to bring fintech-style technology into their own systems, instead of sending customers to separate apps or outside providers.
Across Europe, legacy banks have often lagged behind fintechs in retail FX innovation. In the UK, many banks still route most international transfers through SWIFT, with variable fees and multi-day delivery times.
In Germany, banks depend on legacy rails with few mobile-native options for individual users. Even in the Nordics, which is known to be more digitally mature, real-time FX tools are more common in third-party apps than within banks’ own systems.
UniCredit’s move challenges this trend. Rather than simply referring users to Wise, the bank has embedded its infrastructure directly into the UniCredit mobile experience.
