Credit: Djamel Ramdani  
Interview with: Isabelle Ferrand, Chief Executive Officer, Confédération Nationale du Crédit Mutuel
In a year of ongoing economic uncertainty and global challenges, Crédit Mutuel has emerged with strong financial results and a clear strategic direction, which is a testament to the strength of its diversified banking and insurance model. With a focus on long-term value creation, operational efficiency, and a mutualist ethos, Crédit Mutuel continues to distinguish itself.
In this interview, Crédit Mutuel reflects on the drivers of its 2024 performance, its priorities for 2025, and its growing role in supporting the energy transition and addressing climate risks. The conversation also reinforces the group’s deep commitment to its founding values of solidarity, responsibility, and service to the common good.
What is your analysis of Crédit Mutuel’s performance in 2024?
Crédit Mutuel group, France’s third-largest banking group, is demonstrating the strength of its diversified banking and insurance model with net income of more than €4.5bn in 2024. Crédit Mutuel group’s excellent operating efficiency continued to drive its net revenue, which reached €19.3bn, confirming the vigour of its business growth. Net income, up 50 percent over the last 10 years, bears witness to the relevance of Crédit Mutuel group’s business model. Founded on the principles of freedom, responsibility, solidarity and subsidiarity, it enables us to make long-term strategic choices and ensure long-term profitability to meet the needs of our members and customers. The mutualist group continues to demonstrate that diversification, innovation and commitment to the common good, notably through value sharing, are key factors for navigating this period of political and economic turbulence with resilience. Backed by the commitment of its 87,000 employees and nearly 20,000 elected representatives, serving its 37.8 million retail, professional and corporate customers and members in France and Europe, Crédit Mutuel group once again demonstrated its efficiency, with a cost/income ratio that improved significantly by 1.5 points to 57.7 percent. Crédit Mutuel group’s financial solidity was fully confirmed with a CET1 ratio of 19.4 percent.
What are the drivers of this financial performance?
This result is based on three key pillars: strong commercial momentum, leading financial strength, and continued improvements in operational efficiency. We remain the leader in France in this area, with the best cost-to-income ratio.
What are the group’s current priorities?
We will work to strengthen our resilience and to advocate for the cooperative and mutual banking model at both European and international levels. We firmly believe that the cooperative model is a true asset in today’s world, and the values it embodies resonate strongly with the aspirations of younger generations.
What is the Crédit Mutuel group doing to address the environmental challenge?
In view of the issues of global warming, loss of biodiversity and damage caused by exposure to climate hazards, Crédit Mutuel group stepped up its eco-responsible initiatives and offerings to support its customers in their ecological and energy transition projects. In addition to strong strategic ambitions, in 2024 Crédit Mutuel group continued to integrate climate and environmental risks into its overall risk management and developed a methodology for assessing its customers’ geographic exposure to climate hazards. This methodology is an invaluable tool for assessing environmental and climate risks by sector, as well as providing a framework for internal stress testing of climate risks. Through these commitments, Crédit Mutuel group is committed to reducing its negative impacts, in particular on climate and the environment, for the benefit of all its stakeholders, and in particular its members and customers. Driven by a shared determination, all the group’s networks are taking increased steps to help transform our economy in environmental terms and create a trajectory in line with the Paris Agreement.
What would be the ideal for a bank like Crédit Mutuel?
It would be – and in fact, it is – to remain deeply mutualist, useful, and supportive, in the service of clients, members, and society as a whole. Mutualism remains our founding principle and at the heart of our movement. Our goal is to be both supportive and efficient – to become ever more efficient in order to be even more supportive.
