Iccrea Banca is the parent company of Gruppo Bancario Cooperativo Iccrea.
Iccrea Banca was established in 1963, founded by around 190 mutual banks (at that time, they were known as "Casse Rurali e Artigiane") in order to support their activities at local level with centralised services. Its role evolved in the following years, with the evolution of the mutual banks now known as "Banche di Credito Cooperativo" (BCCs).
On 4 March 2019, the Gruppo Bancario Cooperativo Iccrea was entered into the Register of Italian Banking Groups, effective as of 1 January 2019. At the time of registration, the group was made up of 162 companies, including 142 affiliated mutual banks, the Parent Company Iccrea Banca, and other companies held either by Iccrea Banca or by the affiliated mutual banks themselves. The Group is the leading banking group owned entirely by residents of local communities within Italy by way of an ownership structure encompassing around 800,000 member shareholders, nearly half of which are either households or small businesses.