In 10 years the number of banks present in Italy collapsed by 73,5%: if in 2012 the institutes active in our country were 533, at the end of last year the figure was reduced to just 141 (including 54 groups and 87 individual companies). The Bank of Italy writes it in the Annual report 2022, explaining that the decline is mainly related to concentration operations which aim at "greater operational efficiency through the exploitation of economies of scale and scope, linked to the diversification of the business model". The phenomenon is "in line with the trends observed in the other main countries of the euro area", but in Italy it weighed above all the cooperative credit reform, which was finalized in the first part of 2019 and involved 227 mutual banks.
Average assets per bank quintupled in 10 years
The first consequence of all this was a significant increase in the size of individual institutions: while the number of banks dropped by almost three quarters – Via Nazionale explains – the average assets for each intermediary increased fivefold, going from around 5 billion in 2012 to over 24 billion in 2021.
Mediolanum and Fineco become significant banks
The average figure, however, risks being misleading, given that 82% of the assets of the whole system can be traced back to the 13 groups classified as "significant" and therefore supervised by the ECB. This group consisted of 11 institutes until the end of 2021, but were joined earlier this year Mediolanum e Fineco, whose assets have steadily exceeded the threshold of 30 billion euros.
Fintech and competition
According to Bankitalia, this dynamic has not harmed competition: on the contrary, the market has become more competitive thanks to the activity of foreign banks and non-bank intermediaries "who make intensive use of technology in the offer of financial services". This drive for innovation has led Italian banks to reduce operating costs for increase investment in digital infrastructure.
Branches and employees
The result was a drastic decrease in the number of branches and employees, down respectively by 34 and 13% compared to 2012. “Based on the latest data available for comparison with the other main European countries for 2020 – continues the Annual Report – the average number of inhabitants per counter rose to over 2.500, an intermediate value between that of France and Spain (about 2.100) and that of Germany (over 3.400)”.
