Cooperative banking, stronger after the crisis but still far from Europe

BarcelonaWhile large banks had to be bailed out with more than €66 billion, cooperative banking in Spain not only held its own during the economic crisis, but fared better without receiving anything. In other words, these entities did not close branches or lay off workers en masse, and they also gained much more business compared to the rest of the sector.

This is confirmed by a study prepared by the Chair of Social Economy at TecnoCampus. In the case of Caixa Ingenieros, loans grew 70% between 2008 and 2023, while the sector saw them decline 24% during the same period. Regarding deposits, cooperative banking saw them soar by 149%, compared to a 1% increase for the rest of the sector.

Despite the positive figures it has recorded in recent decades, cooperative banking is still far from reaching the levels it has enjoyed in other countries. The market share in Europe stands at 22% for deposits and 23% for loans. However, in Spain the figure drops to 10% for deposits and 9.5% for loans, with 3.5 million users. These proportions are comparable to Catalonia. They are among the lowest levels among European countries, only slightly worse in Italy—10% for deposits and 8% for loans—where there are only 1.4 million customers.

This is nothing like other states on the continent. The undisputed leader is France, where the market share rises to 63% for deposits and 64% for loans, and cooperative banks serve 29.7 million users. In second and third place are Austria and Finland. For the director of the Chair of Social Economy, Eloi Serrano, the differences between countries are due to cultural issues, with French citizens more wary of traditional banking and Finnish and Austrians preferring closer customer service.

"In countries where there are more credit unions, there is less financial instability. This banking model is a source of stability," Serrano emphasizes. This explains why they have been gaining more customers since the bursting of the real estate bubble and the subsequent economic crisis, and why they have grown from two million users in 2007 in Spain to nearly 3.5 million today. Other examples of cooperative banking in Spain are Cajamar and Laboral Kutxa.

The case of Caja Ingenieros

In the wake of the crisis, Caixa Ingenieros has seen its number of clients double. Almost 20 years ago, it was below 100,000, and now it has surpassed the 200,000 threshold. Furthermore, turnover has grown by 148% during this period, compared to the 12% decline experienced by the sector, according to the report prepared by TecnoCampus. In 2024, the bank's profits were once again a record year. with 24 million euros.

To increase the market share of cooperative banking, Caixa Ingenieros' Business Area Director, Anna Salvatella, argues that more needs to be done, especially among young people who are looking for other banking models and end up preferring neobanks. "The social economy needs to take a step forward and become more sexy to reach out to other groups," adds Maria Teixidor, CEO of Grupo Clade, the group of companies that includes Caixa Ingenieros.