Marche: BCCs to provide 2.2 billion over three years for businesses and households
A boost for the local economy, which is heavily reliant on manufacturing and has lost some of its vigour. There is also a funding ceiling of 60 million linked to the ZES Unica area.
There is 2.2 billion available for the next three years. This is a level of funding from the banking system that the Marche region’s economy has not seen for several decades. It is a substantial sum that Iccrea, through the region’s 13 cooperative credit banks, is making available to businesses and households. “This is not simply a credit facility,” points out Ennio Di Foglio, general manager of the Marche Federation of Cooperative Credit Banks, “ it represents a strategic commitment by the parent company to employment, innovation and development, in accordance with sound and prudent management principles, but with the awareness that cooperative credit has a responsibility to support the growth of local communities.”
A boost for the local economy, which is heavily reliant on manufacturing, has lost its vigour and risks a gradual decline against a backdrop of geopolitical crises, economic tensions and market shifts. A change of direction is only possible by overcoming challenges that can no longer be postponed: the ecological and digital transition, generational renewal, the shrinking size of businesses, and the need for greater managerialisation.
Then there is the ZES, an opportunity for businesses, the first tangible results of which will be seen in the medium term: the 60 million funding ceiling made available by Iccrea aims to stimulate investment and projects capable of generating a positive impact within the region’s 124 municipalities (out of a total of 225, editor’s note) which will be eligible for the investment tax credit.
“It is in our nature to act as guardians of our local areas. We channel our first-hand knowledge of businesses and families into support for social cohesion and the resilience of the Marche region’s economic fabric,” adds Di Foglio. So the BCCs, too, face a challenge to overcome: to continue to be local banks, capable of listening to real needs and channelling the savings gathered from local communities into credit for their development. And the figures for the first half of 2026 confirm the positive trend, which the CEO describes as ‘a strong sign of confidence’ coming from the region’s 162 branches, over 65,000 members and 300,000 customers: the 13 banks in the Marche region (with a total of 1,500 employees), operating in over 100 municipalities, generated total direct deposits for the half-year of approximately 6,857 million, compared with 6,740 million for the same period in 2025 (+2 per cent); lending exceeded 5,042 million, compared with 4,807 million in 2025 (+5 per cent); whilst indirect deposits rose from 3,718 million to 4,280 million (+15 per cent).
The future of the Marche region’s cooperative credit banks (BCCs) may hold new opportunities for mergers or expansion, but Di Foglio prefers to focus on strengthening the existing ones. “True growth is not linked to the number of BCCs,” he explains, “but to the quality of service and the impact they have on the development of local communities”. The focus, therefore, is entirely on consolidating the 162 branches – a widespread network tasked with supporting regional economic development, including through initiatives such as the recent EuBlending-EIB credit line, for which the Marche Federation worked in collaboration with the region’s cooperative credit banks and the parent company, securing a 30 million allocation from the European Investment Bank, dedicated to financing supplemented by EU and regional interest subsidies, whilst providing for the possibility of applying for a public guarantee from the SME Guarantee Fund under Law 662/1996.
