“Cooperative banks confirm their role in supporting the development of local economies and growth for communities. A role that they still demonstrate today that they fully play, despite the difficulties deriving from an economic cycle that in past years has been unfavorable for a long time, of which it seems only now that we can begin to glimpse the first signs of recovery". This is the comment of the Chairman Corrado Sforza Fogliani in relation to the study drawn up by Assopopolari entitled "The role of Credito Popolare in the evolution of Bank-Business relationships" on the link between Cooperative Banks and businesses.
From the empirical analysis developed through the data collected, it emerges that although the Italian banking system has undergone a process of profound transformation, especially recently, the Banche Popolari have continued to operate in line with their original mission, i.e. as a bank of the community and the territory, and this was made possible precisely because of the presence of those characteristics that determine the essence of the popular bank: convergence of interests among the shareholders and their participation in the bank's activities, long-lasting relationships with its customers and the search for long-term results in the certainty that the solidity of the bank itself passes through the sustainable development of the territories.
Between 2007 and 2014, cooperative banks disbursed new loans worth over 670 billion euro to companies and around half of this to small and smaller companies and at a rate 20 basis points lower than the average for the system. As far as households are concerned, the opening of new mortgages, for around 100 billion, was carried out, in the period, at average rates of 3,8% against a system figure of 4%. Therefore, the local propensity of the institutes of the category is confirmed once again, thanks to a close link with the territories, which has grown over the years. A link that proves to be still solid, vital and essential for the growth of the Italian economy in a phase that continues to be characterized by the changes deriving from the introduction of continuous technological innovations and from a process of consolidation of credit intermediaries also favored by the framework legislation prepared at national and community level in recent years.
