Local mutual banks continue to have significant weight within the Italian credit system. In recent years over 400 independent mutual banks have expanded the scope of their business within the credit market, especially with firms, exploiting their dense network and a banking model centred on continuity in customer relations.
Globalization heightens the need, for mutual banks, like others, to adapt their services to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises, to increase their operating efficiency and to improve their risk control and management. In other countries mutual banking uses integrated systems to overcome the disadvantages of small size by centralizing production and ancillary services.