The deal will be revised under more favourable terms for UniCredit and is set to be finalised in the coming months, the daily reported, citing unspecified own sources.

UniCredit had no comment, it added. Nexi also had no immediate comment.

MF, another financial daily, also said a deal was nearing.

Italian payments infrastructure group SIA in 2016 signed a 10-year contract with UniCredit to manage cards and shop payments as well as cash withdrawal machines ahead of a being acquired by Nexi, which inherited the contract.

UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel months ago started a review of the bank's payments business with a view to managing it in a more unified way across various markets, prompting concerns among investors it might seek new partners, in a blow to Nexi.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Cristina Carlevaro)