Amid financial and banking turbulence, Crédit Mutuel Méditerranéen remains calm, and so do its clients, strange isn’t it? Not if you understand the workings of this financial institution and this federation, which was only created in 1976 but nonetheless has 90 branches from Perpignan to Menton. In this “house,” they don’t talk about agencies but branches, not about clients but members, and not about profits but surpluses. They don’t make high-risk investments; it’s more like a “family man” management style but one that can boast of having always been at the forefront of telematics services for the public.
All this is not just semantics; it primarily reflects different behaviors. Firstly, each branch is autonomous in its operation with its own board of directors elected by the general assembly of members, all volunteers. While the federation has eleven hundred employees, it can rely on as many volunteers who reside within the perimeter of each branch and wish to get involved in the development of this local bank.
Since there are no shareholders and no profits to redistribute, the surpluses are used to support development, whether in the local economy or in solidarity and social initiatives. There is no shortage of projects with no less than 7 new branches planned over the next two years. In La Trinité, construction is underway just like in Nice-Garnier. The premises were purchased in August at Cannet-Rocheville, and on December 21st, a professional platform is expected to open at Nice-Arénas – in the new Horizon complex – with new administrative premises spanning 1500 m2.
It is said that the establishment of Crédit Mutuel in the Alpes-Maritimes and initially in Nice was triggered to meet the demands of Alsatian members who regularly vacationed here and couldn’t find local support for their bank!
In forty years, the number of branches has been quadrupled up to now. The first two, Nice-Joffre (chaired by Jean-Jacques Papini and managed by Jean-Claude Couture) and Nice-Avenue (chaired by Roger Azencott and managed by Jean-Paul Luciani) have published an “anniversary” newsletter. Nice-Avenue will mark the end of the celebration this Saturday. So if you want to learn more about this bank like no other, don’t hesitate to step through its doors; a workshop on the ISF (Solidarity Wealth Tax) and a slideshow on the history of this branch are notably on the program for this extraordinary day.
