The creation of the Consorzio CBI, which replaces the Interbank Corporate Banking Association created by ABI in 2001, was approved on 20th of May 2008 during the ACBI annual meeting.

This new legal form meets the need to modify the company organization of the Association for the CBI; on the one hand, to take full advantage of the new opportunities offered by technological progress, and especially by the establishment of the new electronic infrastructure, and on the other hand, to respond to the stimuli of the ever-changing market and of the evolving Italian and European regulatory frameworks, for example after the approval of the European Directive on payment services that is being implemented in the individual EU Member States. The Consortium, because of its simple and flexible organization, was considered the most suitable legal form for the specific activities performed by the CBI for the participating banks, and for the Italian companies that are already using the Interbank Corporate Banking service.

The goal of the Consortium is to plan and develop standards, guaranteeing that they are certified, and to define a reference regulatory framework; this would allow banks to carry out an online connection and dialogue with the clientele, with a view to interoperability both at national and international level.

Thus, the defines the shared sphere of banking offer to enterprises a sort of "white label", where common basic services are offered in all the adhering Banks. Each single Bank will then define its specific competitive offer to the market.

In addition, the Consorzio CBI promotes information and educational activities, and organizes conventions and promotional and advisory activities, on its web site as well, with the purpose of informing stakeholders of the development of the ICB service and of existing projects, as well as of monitoring the trends of the international market of payment systems.