While large banking groups cut branches and push on standardization, local banks invest in the vicinity and relationships. It is not a nostalgic choice, but a strategy that is giving results. In the new credit risk, the territory can return to really count
MI enter the large groups, taken from the banking risk, push towards the standardization Closing branches and replacing the consultant with algorithms, in the boiling heart of Italian finance a space grows for those who choose a different way: to remain close to people, the territories, local businesses. Not for sentimentalism, but by strategy. Numerous local banks They have chosen to invest right where others retire. This is the case of the Lombardy Bank, born in 2016 from the aggregation of Brescia rural coffers, now present with over sixty branches between the provinces of Brescia and Milan, with the aim of “promoting local members and communities” and promote regional development. This is demonstrated by the data: between 2013 and 2022, the BCCs in Italy have the share of counters from 14% to 19.6% increasedconsolidating reserves and funding towards micro -enterprises and families and strengthening links in the area.
In Trentino, for example, the Vallagarina rural Cassa used the own historical role – born 125 years ago – To relaunch the mission of support for the community: “The relationship with the territory … favors development and mitigates inequalities”, explain its leaders. Even in the South, with the Popolo Pugliese Banca, the mutualistic model worked: local aggregations, transparency, continuity in territorial roots. There is no lack of examples of strategie corporate localI: The Cassa Centrale delle Bcc group has planned an investment program of over 670 million euros between 2023 and 2025, focused on innovation, growth and proximity. The BCC themselves paid more than 313 million euros for 1,580 SME initiatives, integrating ESG criteria in decision -making processes.
INfine, the case of Banco Azzoaglio – Piedmontese Private Institute founded in Ceva in 1879 and today led by the fourth generation – shows that this approach is not a romantic niche, but one competitive. In 2022 the net profit exceeded 14 million euros, with a total capital ratio over 17%, well beyond the required requirements. In February 2025 he participated in a financing of 15 million for the Berti group, together with Sace, in support of a plan of near-shoring e reshoring of the Venetian company. The local banks Today they are confronted with an increasingly complex and competitive market. Their strength lies in the ability to maintain a direct relationship with customers and territories, an element that, in banking delirium, can make the difference in a moment of great changes.
