


Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take
deposits and lend money in most parts of the world.
Cooperative banking, as discussed here, includes retail banking carried out by credit unions, mutual savings banks, building
societies and cooperatives, as well as commercial banking services provided by mutual organizations (such as cooperative
federations) to cooperative businesses.
A 2013 report by ILO concluded that cooperative banks outperformed their competitors during the financial crisis of 2007-2008.
The cooperative banking sector had 20% market share of the European banking sector, but accounted for only 7 per cent of all the
write-downs and losses between the third quarter of 2007 and first quarter of 2011. Cooperative banks were also over-represented
in lending to small and medium-sized businesses in all of the 10 countries included in the report. [1] Credit unions in the US had five
times lower failure rate than other banks during the crisis [2] and more than doubled lending to small businesses between 2008 -
2016, from $30 billion to $60 billion, while lending to small businesses overall during the same period declined by around $100
billion.[3] Public trust in credit unions stands at 60%, compared to 30% for big banks [4] and small businesses are eighty percent less
likely to be dissatisfied with a credit union than with a big bank.[5]

Contents

 1Institutions
o 1.1Cooperative banks
o 1.2Credit unions
o 1.3Land development banks
o 1.4Building societies
o 1.5Others
o 1.6International associations
 2By region
o 2.1Canada
 2.1.1Quebec
o 2.2United Kingdom
o 2.3Continental Europe
o 2.4United States
o 2.5India
o 2.6Israel
o 2.7Italy
 3Microcredit and microfinance
 4List of cooperative banking institutions
 5See also
 6References
 7External links

Institutions[edit]
Cooperative banks[edit]
Cooperative banks are owned by their customers and follow the cooperative principle of one person, one vote. Co-operative banks
are often regulated under both banking and cooperative legislation. They provide services such as savings and loans to non-
members as well as to members, and some participate in the wholesale markets for bonds, money and even equities. [6] Many
cooperative banks are traded on public stock markets, with the result that they are partly owned by non-members. Member control is
diluted by these outside stakes, so they may be regarded as semi-cooperative.
Cooperative banking systems are also usually more integrated than credit union systems. Local branches of co-operative banks
select their own boards of directors and manage their own operations, but most strategic decisions require approval from a central
office. Credit unions usually retain strategic decision-making at a local level, though they share back-office functions, such as
access to the global payments system, by federating.
Some cooperative banks are criticized for diluting their cooperative principles. Principles 2-4 of the "Statement on the Co-operative
Identity" can be interpreted to require that members must control both the governance systems and capital of their cooperatives. A
cooperative bank that raises capital on public stock markets creates a second class of shareholders who compete with the members
for control. In some circumstances, the members may lose control. This effectively means that the bank ceases to be a cooperative.
Accepting deposits from non-members may also lead to a dilution of member control.

Credit unions[edit]
Main article: Credit union
Credit unions have the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at reasonable rates, and providing other financial services to its
members.[7] Its members are usually required to share a common bond, such as locality, employer, religion or profession, and credit
unions are usually funded entirely by member deposits, and avoid outside borrowing. They are typically (though not exclusively) the
smaller form of cooperative banking institution. In some countries they are restricted to providing only unsecured personal loans,
whereas in others, they can provide business loans to farmers, and mortgages.

Land development banks[edit]

The special (bank)s providing Long Term Loans are called Land Development Banks, in the short, LDB. The history of LDB is quite
old. The first LDB was started at Jhang in Punjab in 1920. This bank is also based on Co-operative. The main objective of the LDBs
are to promote the development of land, agriculture and increase the agricultural production. The LDBs provide long-term finance to
members directly through their branches.[8]

Building societies[edit]
Main article: Building society
Building societies exist in Britain, Ireland and several Commonwealth countries. They are similar to credit unions in organisation,
though few enforce a common bond. However, rather than promoting thrift and offering unsecured and business loans, their
purpose is to provide home mortgages for members. Borrowers and depositors are society members, setting policy and appointing
directors on a one-member, one-vote basis. Building societies often provide other retail banking services, such as current accounts,
credit cards and personal loans. In the United Kingdom, regulations permit up to half of their lending to be funded by debt to non-
members, allowing societies to access wholesale bond and money markets to fund mortgages. The world's largest building society
is Britain's Nationwide Building Society.

Others[edit]
Mutual savings banks and mutual savings and loan associations were very common in the 19th and 20th centuries, but declined in
number and market share in the late 20th century, becoming globally less significant than cooperative banks, building societies and
credit unions.
Trustee savings banks are similar to other savings banks, but they are not cooperatives, as they are controlled by trustees, rather
than their depositors.

International associations[edit]
The most important international associations of co-operative banks are the Brussels-based European Association of Co-operative
Banks which has 28 European and non-European members, and the Paris-based International Cooperative Banking Association
(ICBA), which has member institutions from around the world too.

By region[edit]
Canada[edit]
In Canada, cooperative banking is provided by credit unions (UNI in French). As of September 30, 2012, there were 357 credit
unions and caisses populaires affiliated with Credit Union Central of Canada. They operated 1,761 branches across the country with
5.3 million members and $149.7 billion in assets.[9]

Quebec[edit]
The UNI movement started by Alphonse Desjardins in Quebec, Canada, pioneered credit unions. Desjardins opened the first credit
union in North America in 1900, from his home in Lévis, Quebec, marking the beginning of the Mouvement Desjardins. He was
interested in bringing financial protection to working people.

United Kingdom[edit]
British building societies developed into general-purpose savings and banking institutions with ‘one member, one vote’ ownership
and can be seen as a form of financial cooperative (although many de-mutualised into conventionally owned banks in the 1980s and
1990s). Until 2017 the Co-operative Group included The Co-operative Bank.[10] It still retains an insurance provider, The Co-
operative Insurance, noted for promoting ethical investment.

European Co-operative Banking: Facts and figures 2017. Based on the 2017 Key statistics collected by the EACB

Continental Europe[edit]
Important continental cooperative banking systems include the Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel, Banque Populaire and Caisse
d'épargne in France, Rabobank in the Netherlands, BVR/DZ Bank in Germany, Banco Popolare, UBI Banca in Italy, Migros and
Coop Bank in Switzerland, and the Raiffeisen system in several countries in central and eastern Europe. The cooperative banks that
are members of the European Association of Co-operative Banks have 130 million customers, 4 trillion euros in assets, and 17% of
Europe's deposits. The International Confederation of Cooperative Banks (CIBP) is the oldest association of cooperative banks at
international level.
In Scandinavia, there is a clear distinction between mutual savings banks (Sparbank) and true credit unions (Andelsbank).

United States[edit]
Credit unions in the United States had 96.3 million members in 2013 and assets of $1.06 trillion. [11][12] The sector had five times lower
failure rate than other banks during the financial crisis of 2007-2008[2] and more than doubled lending to small businesses between
2008 - 2016, from $30 billion to $60 billion, while lending to small businesses overall during the same period declined by around
$100 billion.[3] Public trust in credit unions stands at 60%, compared to 30% for big banks [4] and small businesses are five times less
likely to be dissatisfied with a credit union than with a big bank. [5]

India[edit]
Cooperative banks serve an important role in the Indian economy, especially in rural areas. In urban areas, they mainly serve to
small industry and self-employed workers. They are registered under the Cooperative Societies Act, 1912. They are regulated by
the Reserve Bank of India under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and Banking Laws (Application to Cooperative Societies) Act,
1965.[13] Anyonya Sahakari Mandali, established in 1889 in the province of Baroda, is the earliest known cooperative credit union in
India.[14]
The Cooperative Credit System in India consists of Short Term and Long Term credit institutions. The short-term credit structure
which takes care of the short term (1 to 5 years) credit needs of the farmers is a three-tier structure in most of the States viz.,
Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACCS) at the village level, District Central Cooperative Banks at the District level and
State Cooperative Bank at the State level and two-tier in some States voz., State Cooperative Banks and PACCS. The long term
credit structure caters to the long term credit needs of the farmers(up to 20 years) is a two-tier structure with Primary Agriculture and
Rural Development Banks (PARDBs) at the village level and State Agriculture and Rural Development Banks. The State
Cooperative Banks and Central Cooperative Banks are licensed by Reserve Bank of India under the Banking Regulation Act. While
the StCBs and DCCBs function like a normal Bank they focus mainly on agricultural credit. While Reserve Bank of India is the
Regulating Authority, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) provides refinance support and takes care of
inspection of StCBs and DCCBs. The first Cooperative Credit Society in India was started in 1904 at Thiroor in Tiruvallur District in
Tamil Nadu
Primary Cooperative Banks which are otherwise known as Urban Cooperative Banks are registered as Cooperative Societies under
the Cooperative Societies Acts of the concerned States or the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act function in urban areas and
their business is similar to that of Commercial Banks. They are licensed by RBI to do banking business. Reserve Bank of India is
both the controlling and inspecting authority for the Primary Cooperative Banks.

Israel[edit]
Ofek (Hebrew: ‫ )אופק‬is a cooperative initiative founded in mid-2012 that intended to establish the first cooperative bank in Israel. [15]

Italy[edit]
See also: Category:Cooperative banks of Italy
Since the 19th century, Italy has had hundreds of "banche popolari" (popular banks) and "banche di credito cooperativo"
(cooperative credit banks) which are different kinds of cooperative societies (governed by an assembly where every
shareholder/member has 1 vote). As of 2016, the biggest was Banca Popolare di Milano (founded in 1865).[citation needed]
Starting in 2016, due to a new law, several cooperative banks will be forced to merge and/or be converted to società per azioni.

Microcredit and microfinance[edit]

The more recent phenomena of microcredit and microfinance are often based on a cooperative model. These focus on small
business lending. In 2006, Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his
ideas regarding development and his pursuit of the microcredit concept. In this concept the institution provides micro loans to
requires.

List of cooperative banking institutions[edit]

Cooperative banking institutions

Assets
Membe (2010
Count rs
Name US$ Type Alternative name Notes
ry (2010)[16
] millions
)[16]

Coop RM3.4 Islamic cooperative Koperasi Co-opbank Pertama The first national cooperative bank
Bank Malaysia 300,000+
Billion bank Malaysia Berhad in Malaysia established in 1950
Pertama
(formerly
 Cooperative banking institutions

Assets
Membe (2010
Count rs
Name US$ Type Alternative name Notes
ry (2010)[16
] millions
)[16]

known
as Bank
Persatuan)

Bank Islamic cooperative Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Second national cooperative bank
Malaysia 907,918
Rakyat bank Malaysia Berhad in Malaysia founded in 1954

local banks of ther group majority

Crédit owned by individuals; local banks
Caisse Nationale de Crédit
Agricole France Bank (Public S.A.) jointly-owned Crédit Agricole S.A.
Agricol
S.A. indirectly, via regional bank of the
group

Islami Co-
operative First Islami & largest Co-operative
Bank Bank in Bangladesh based on
Ltd. (Inste Islami Sariyah.
ad of Banglade Central Co- Signed: Registration No.
ICBL 57/c, Dated: 3rd Aug 1922.
Sandwip sh Operative Bank
Central
Co- Head office: Zakir Hossain Road,
Operative Khulshi, Chittagong-4209,
Bank Ltd.) Bangladesh.

formerly Landbouwkrediet(agr Independent from Crédit Agricole

Crelan Belgium 288,000[17] Bank
icultural) since 2015[17]
Deutsche Owned by three quarters of
17,700,00 Zentralgenossenschaftbank all Volksbank and Raiffeisenbank (c
DZ Bank Germany Bank
0[18] German Central Cooperative ooperative banks) in Germany and
Bank Austria
Caisse
France Bank literally “savings bank” Credit union federation
d'Epargne
Netherla 1,500,000
Rabobank Bank Credit union federation
nds +
Nationwid
15,500,00
e Building UK Building society World's largest building society
0[19]
Society
Banglades
h The largest Co-Operative Bank in
Banglade [17]
Samabaya Bank Bangladesh with 478 Registered
sh
Bank Member Society.[17]
LTD.
Groupe
Banque France 3,400,000 Bank
Populaire
Desjardins Canada 5,795,277[ Credit union Leading bank in Quebec
 Cooperative banking institutions

Assets
Membe (2010
Count rs
Name US$ Type Alternative name Notes
ry (2010)[16
] millions
)[16]

20]
Group federation
Raiffeisen
Bank
Bank owned by regional Raiffeisen Bank
Austria (Public aktiengesells RI
Internatio of Austrian states
chaft)
nal
Banking division of National Agricultural
South
Nonghyup agricultural Cooperative Federation Approx US$230 billion in loans
Korea
cooperative (NACF)
ICCREA Bank (società per Istituto Centrale delle Casse
Italy owned by credit unions of Italy
Banca azioni) Rurali ed Artigiane
Cassa
Centrale
Banca –
Bank (società per owned by credit union of Northern
Credito Italy CCB
azioni) Italy
Cooperati
vo del
Nord Est
Raiffeisen
Bank (società per Cassa Centrale Raiffeisen owned by credit union of South
Landesban Italy
azioni) dell'Alto Adige Tyrol region, Italy
k Südtirol
Raiffeisen
Switzerla
(Switzerla Credit union federation
nd
nd)
Banco
Cooperati
vo
Spain
Español
and Caja
Rural
OP 31% share of Finnish credit market,
Financial Finland 1,750,000[ and 32% share of savings and
21]
Group deposit market[22]
POP
Finland Credit union federation
Pankki
Bank Australia's first customer owned
Australia 125,000+ $3b bank
Australia bank
Co- Not
[24] Subsidiary of consumer
operative UK applicable[ Bank
23] cooperative
Bank
Navy
Federal
US 3,004,352 33012 Credit union
Credit
Union
Shared [25] Cooperative lending
UK Finance for fair trade
Interest society
GLS Bank Germany
The New
120,000+ Bank Customer owned bank
Cooperati Zealand
 Cooperative banking institutions

Assets
Membe (2010
Count rs
Name US$ Type Alternative name Notes
ry (2010)[16
] millions
)[16]

ve Bank
Banco Argentin
Credicoop a

See also[edit]

 Banks portal

 Building society
 Credit union
 Mutual savings bank
 Rotating savings and credit association
 Savings and loan association

References[edit]

1. ^ https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---emp_ent/---
coop/documents/publication/wcms_207768.pdf
2. ^ Jump up to:a b https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/11/22/in-pictures-banks-vs-
credit-unions-in-the-financia.aspx
3. ^ Jump up to:a b https://www.sba.gov/advocacy/how-did-bank-lending-small-business-
united-states-fare-after-financial-crisis
4. ^ Jump up to:a b https://nwcua.org/2014/09/03/credit-unions-twice-as-trusted-as-big-
banks/
5. ^ Jump up
to:a bhttps://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/smallbusiness/2016/SBCS-Report-
EmployerFirms-2016.pdf#page=23
6. ^ The Co-operative Bank of the UK strictly limits its borrowing from the markets,
according to an October 2008 statement [1]: “... we do not borrow in the financial markets
in order to lend. Our lending capital is generated from customers' investments and
savings, leaving us a good deal less exposed to the vagaries of the market than many of
the major lenders.”
7. ^ E.g., 12 U.S.C. § 1752(1), available at "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the
original (PDF) on 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2009-05-05.; CUNA Model Credit Union Act
§ 0.20 (2007); see also 12 U.S.C. § 1757, available at "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived
from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2009-05-05.; CUNA Model Credit Union
Act § 3.10 (2007).
8. ^ TNAU. "LAND DEVELOPMENT BANK". TNAU Agritech Portal. Retrieved 8
January 2014.
9. ^ Credit Union Central of Canada. "System Results: National System Review, Third
Quarter, 2012" (PDF). Retrieved 12 December 2012.
10. ^ Co-op Group sells final stake in Co-op Bank, BBC News, 21 September 2017.
(retrieved 6 April 2018)
11. ^ "2013 Annual Report" (PDF). www.ncua.gov. National Credit Union Administration.
Retrieved 6 September 2014.
12. ^ Marte, Jonnelle (August 5, 2014). "About 100 million Americans are now using credit
unions. Should you join them?". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
13. ^ D. Muraleedharan (2009). Modern Banking: Theory And Practice. PHI Learning Pvt.
Ltd. p. 9. ISBN 978-81-203-3655-1. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
 14. ^ "Brief History of Urban Cooperative Banks in India". Reserve Bank of India. Retrieved 3
March 2015.
15. ^ "Ofek aims to bring 'social banking' to Israel as first credit union". jpost.com.
16. ^ Jump up to:a b Figures at close of institution's 2007 financial year, from organization's
annual report. If no US$ equivalent given in annual report, exchange rate of December
31, 2007, used.
17. ^ Jump up to:a b c d "De geschiedenis van Crelan". crelan.be.
18. ^ Banks, BVR, Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken,
National Association of German Cooperative. "Presse – Zahlen, Daten, Fakten – BVR –
Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken". bvr.de.
19. ^https://www.nationwide.co.uk/-/media/MainSite/documents/about/corporate-
information/results-and-accounts/review-of-the-year-2018.pdf
20. ^ Desjardins Group figures — Information as at December 31, 2008. Available
at http://www.desjardins.com/en/a_propos/qui-nous-sommes/chiffres.jsp
21. ^ https://op-year2016.fi/op-ryhma/omistaja-asiakkaat
22. ^ "Key figures". Unico Banking Institute. 2006.
23. ^ Co-operative Bank customers are eligible to join its parent Co-operative Group
24. ^ 13.1 billion GBP
25. ^ GBP 25.1 million

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Banking

cooperatives.

 International Co-operative Banking Association, a sectoral organization of

the International Co-operative Alliance
 The European Association of Cooperative Banks
 NCB
 Co-operative Banks in India
 CIBP
 The Kelly Review
 Cooperative Banking in Canada

hide

Cooperatives and mutual organizations

hide

Types of cooperatives

rative federation

rative wholesale society

yee ownership

rs' self-management
 rs' control

lace democracy

ss and employment co-operative

rs' cooperative

cooperative

owned company

union

l savings bank

s and loan association

ng society

ng

sing

t housing

ng society (egalitarian)

onal community

tive farming

station

making

pool

unity wind energy

one

histic free school

chool

cratic education

ng by teaching

insurance cooperative
ing

m cooperative

show

Topics

 History of the cooperative movement

 .coop
Categories:

 Cooperative banking

 Cooperatives

 Collaborative finance

Navigation menu

 Not logged in

 Talk

 Contributions

 Create account

 Log in

 Article
 Talk
 Read
 Edit
 View history
Search
Go

 Main page
 Contents
 Featured content
 Current events
 Random article
 Donate to Wikipedia
 Wikipedia store

Interaction
 Help
 About Wikipedia
 Community portal
 Recent changes
 Contact page

Tools
 What links here
 Related changes
 Upload file
 Special pages
 Permanent link
 Page information
 Wikidata item
 Cite this page

In other projects
 Wikimedia Commons

Print/export
 Create a book
 Download as PDF
 Printable version

Languages
 Deutsch
 Español
 Français
 हिन्दी
 Italiano
 日本語
 தமிழ்
5 more
Edit links

 This page was last edited on 16 August 2019, at 22:58 (UTC).

 Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using

this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia

Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

 Privacy policy

 About Wikipedia

 Disclaimers

 Contact Wikipedia

 Developers

 Cookie statement

 Mobile view