MELIÁN-NAVARRO A.
Abstract
Credit co-operatives are now a reality in the majority of European Union countries and play a significant role in the
national banking system. The co-operative credit system in Europe has 4 414 local and regional banks, 62 328
branches, more than 45 million partners, 139 million customers, 722 361 employees and a 20% market share of
deposits. The Spanish credit co-operatives form a cooperative banking system which is created as a model of a
federate bank similar to other European systems, like France, Holland, Finland and Germany, countries where the
co-operative system has been developed. In this paper we will focus on the recent evolution of Spanish credit cooperatives
and especially rural savings banks with the creation of “Caja Rural Group” in 1989, which 95% of rural
savings banks belong to.
Key words:
co-operative bank, credit system, European Union-27, financial groups, Spain