The World Savings and Retail Banking Institute published an interview with European Savings and Retail Banking Group President Nicolas Namias setting out priorities for Europe’s savings and retail banks, centred on promoting a “territorial, universal and relational” banking model and arguing that EU supervisory and regulatory authorities should better reflect these institutions’ specificities to support growth while preserving financial stability. Namias pointed to Groupe BPCE as an example of the model’s local footprint, citing its financing of 22% of the French economy, 35 million customers and more than 6,000 branches, and called for support for growth initiatives that can build “European champions”, including through strategic partnerships. On the transition agenda, he estimated Europe’s net-zero pathway to 2050 requires more than EUR 600 billion per year and framed banks’ role as combining credit provision with mobilisation of private capital and household savings, alongside a stronger capital markets union; he highlighted BPCE activity in home energy renovation, renewable energy and emerging low-carbon technologies, alongside decarbonisation trajectories under the Net Zero Banking Alliance. On technology, he identified artificial intelligence as a major near-term shift and described a strategy of blending human advice and digital delivery, using AI to personalise services and support advisers.

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