Mutual banks  Italy’s 394 mutual banks and 3 mutual-bank central credit institutions account for 10 per cent of loans to households and firms, a bigger share than the third largest Italian banking group. This role of mutual banks is even more important in the case of small firms, accounting for almost 20 per cent of total lending.
The mutual banks had greatly expanded their activity prior to the recession. From 1995 to 2008 their market share of lending rose by nearly 9 percentage points for small firms, 5 points for large firms and 3 points for households.