Telecom Italia fleshed out details of a move into the financial services sector in Brazil, noting a partnership with C6 Bank would be up and running by the year-end.

The operator began exploring the move in March, mooting a tie-up between its TIM Brasil business with the online bank as part of efforts to diversify its revenue streams.

Telecom Italia CEO Luigi Gubitosi added detail about the move during the operator’s Q1 earnings call this week, declaring the partnership would be the first between an operator and bank covering development of a “joint financial services solution”.

The companies are currently exploring “sales and payment channel synergies,” along with the potential to expand the “distribution of offers and optimising costs”, he explained.

While both businesses will remain independent, Gubitosi said the structure of the deal would enable TIM Brasil to take a minority stake in C6 Bank “through a mechanism of objective-based compensation”.