How Gen Z is redefining co-operative banking: A call for authenticity, digital ease and real influence

18 July 2025

Source: European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) 

The European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) convened leading voices in youth engagement and cooperative finance for a high-level webinar titled Apropos Coop Banking: From Gen Z to Coop Member – The Future of Youth in Cooperative Banking. The event, timed on the occasion the 2025 International Day of Cooperatives, examined how cooperative banks across Europe can attract, engage and retain young generations as active members and customers.

Opening the discussions together with Damien Poncelas from CNCM, EACB CEO Nina Schindler noted: “Gen Z is ready to engage. Cooperative banking, with its focus on proximity, solidarity, and long-term member value, is uniquely positioned to meet that call. The intergeneration dialogue held today is a timely springboard to imagine our cooperative values through the eyes of Gen Z.”

The discussion drew on research co-authored by Caterina Pesci (University of Trento) revealing identification with cooperative values in banking practices and clear economic incentives as drivers for youth engagement.

Alena Faraj, Project Lead at Neonblau, a Gen Z consultancy for BVR, observed: “Gen Z’s expectations around services – including banking of course – are heavily shaped by tech companies. If we manage to combine that tech-driven user experience with strong values and transparency, we can really offer something Gen Z connects with.”

This echoed in Italy, with Giulia Pittatore, President of the youth advisory group BCC Giovani Soci Network for Federcasse, further reminding that “youth often do not require large loans or capital; rather, we need someone who believes in us, someone who supports us through our educational, personal, and entrepreneurial journeys. We expect a more modern communication without losing cooperative’s greatest strength: being relationship-based banking.”

A panel of industry representatives including Prof. Małgorzata Iwanicz-Drozdowska from the Warsaw School of Economics and CEO of KZBS, Francesco Polo, Managing Director of Federazione BCC Nord-Est and Marc Weegen, Department Head of Brand Strategy and Brand Communication at BVR, shared strategies from youth advisory councils to digital storytelling and localised grassroots campaigns.

Moderating through the discussions, Robin Fieth, Chief Executive of the Building Societies Association, reflected on the importance of the discussions:  “The cooperative model is, by design, intergenerational. In the spirit of stewardship, we inherit the model – and it is our responsibility to pass it on. The challenge lies in ensuring we pass on our businesses and a model that is fit for the future. It is one of the privileges that building societies, mutual and cooperative banks have; by not being limited by the pursuit of short-term results, we can think of the sort of legacy that want to leave for future generations.”

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