What is "bancomat"

Bancomat is an interbank network for cash withdrawals widely used in Italy. It was first introduced in 1983 for use with automated teller machines.

The network is owned by the Rome-based Bancomat Consortium and its cards are issued by Italian banks. The service is only used in Italy and the word “bancomat” is incorrectly used in Italy as a synonym for automated teller machine.

In 1986, an associated debit card network called PagoBancomat was introduced, which is based on the Bancomat service and is intended for PIN-based POS transactions.

Since the Bancomat network is not used outside Italy, almost every Bancomat/PagoBancomat debit card is co-branded with a multinational service, such as Maestro, Visa Debit or V PAY, for use abroad.