Credit cooperatives gain share as rural lending expands
Spanish credit cooperatives gained around 250 basis points of loan and deposit market share over 2015–2025. Bank of Spain Governor José Luis Escrivá presented the figures in Albacete on October 20, 2026, stressing rural finance and scale challenges.
Small balance sheets, broad reach
Spain's 60 credit cooperatives held €230.935 billion in consolidated assets at December 2025, with 4,218 branches and 19,399 employees.
Their domestic shares were 7.3 percent of assets, 9.1 percent of credit and 10.2 percent of deposits.
They supplied 13.9 percent of lending to SMEs and the self-employed and 33.7 percent of agricultural credit.
From 2015 to 2025, their branch network expanded 34 percent; other institutions cut theirs 48 percent.
Between December 2017 and December 2025, cooperative credit grew 36.0 percent against 2.1 percent elsewhere.
Their non-performing loan ratio was 2.2 percent versus 2.7 percent at other institutions; for SMEs and the self-employed, the respective ratios were 4.3 and 5.7 percent.
Capital grows through retained earnings
Profits rose from €712 million in 2021 to €2.136 billion in 2025.
Cooperatives' CET1 ratio reached 22.2 percent against 13.9 percent for the Spanish banking system.
Their liquidity coverage ratio was 313 percent versus 165 percent elsewhere, while loans represented 72 percent of deposits versus 96 percent.
Integration now centers on Cajamar, Solventia and the Spanish Association of Rural Savings Banks' protection scheme.
Only four cooperatives remain independent, down from 83 in 2006.
Escrivá said cooperatives face difficulties finding investment opportunities.
Scale remains the constraint
Escrivá said meeting the sector's challenges requires greater scale and investment.
He identified governance, internal controls, digitalization, AI and shared platforms as priorities.
Rural depopulation constrains business growth, while cybersecurity and post-quantum computing add technological risks.