Microsoft has also selected Nexi as its primary digital payment provider for e-commerce acceptance in Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and expand to other countries in future.

Nexi will leverage Azure Cloud solutions to enhance its own platforms with increased innovation, agility, efficiency, cybersecurity and data protection, particularly with the Data Center Modernisation and Consolidation scenarios and particularly the Italy North data centre region cloud services when made available.

Microsoft and Nexi will work together on ensuring market adoption of joint solutions and create new products that take advantage of both companies’ expertise.

Further, Microsoft is willing to explore the integration of Nexi payment APIs on Microsoft products and services, directly or indirectly through Microsoft cloud services and/or marketplaces. The two companies also intend on launching a joint proposition for ISVs, software companies and startups, focusing on Italy in the first instance and extending to other European markets.

In addition to this, joint marketing and communications endeavours are also expected to offer value-added services to the SME segment in one-stop digital approach. This will include partner activities, developer training and dedicated support to steer adoption of digital transformation and accelerate sustainable growth.

Paolo Bertoluzzo, CEO of Nexi Group, said: “The strategic partnership with Microsoft demonstrates the power of combining deeply local payments expertise with European scale. We are proud to help a global player such as Microsoft to increase local reach in strategic markets with our digital payment solutions. It is a concrete proof of our unique ability to bring together European scale, best-in-class solutions and deep local expertise. We expect our joint investment in this partnership will accelerate the digitization of payments in Europe and our own cloud transformation, but more importantly, together we will enable innovative solutions, increased agility and superior efficiency for SMEs, Corporates, Public Administration and Financial Institutions. Furthermore, it will allow Nexi to accelerate the integration of payment capabilities into software platforms to become the "preferred payment partner" for ISVs, also leveraging Azure capabilities”.

Ralph Haupter, president Microsoft EMEA, added: “Digital payment innovation enables simpler, more frictionless experiences for customers -- benefitting financial institutions, companies and consumers. Nexi will leverage the Microsoft secure cloud infrastructure and partner ecosystem to extend its digital payment solutions to European markets. In addition to the benefits this will bring to end users, I see the potential for this expansion to fuel innovation in the broader industry, creating new opportunities for ISVs and startups. Microsoft will also benefit from the Nexi capabilities and solutions for our own e-commerce in several European markets.”