If you’re looking to answer the question “Why become a banker?” – and for a meaningful career, here are a few pointers
With a 73,000-strong workforce and an alliance made up of 13 (soon to be 14) Crédit Mutuel federations, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale is France’s fifth largest banking group, with a financial strength that makes it one of the top-ranking institutions in Europe.
Beyond the dynamism of its network of Crédit Mutuel local banks – credit institutions serving their immediate community – our group includes a large number of major banking, insurance and service subsidiaries such as CIC, Cofidis, the Assurances du Crédit Mutuel group, Euro Information, Homiris, Factofrance, Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel, Banque Européenne du Crédit Mutuel, Banque Transatlantique, Monabanq, the EBRA media group and various foreign subsidiaries such as Targobank Germany and Targobank Spain.
We carry on a wide range of businesses, from bankinsurance, our biggest activity with a network of 4,300 points of contact, to consumer credit, factoring, private banking, corporate and investment banking and even real estate, remote surveillance and telecoms. This is just a glimpse into our diverse range of activities, which are all aimed at making day-to-day life easier for our customers, supporting their projects and securing their future.
To join Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale is to become part of a mutual cooperative group with foundations and a mission based on strong values rooted in our long history. If in 2020 Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale became the first bank to incorporate as a benefit corporation, this is because our goal is to help change the world around us. We commit to combating all forms of discrimination, for example, and to acting to promote the development of local and regional areas and a fairer, more sustainable society. We listen to our customers and get involved in their projects, making a dedicated advisor available to each of them, whatever they earn.
Another of our cardinal values is trust. Our highly decentralized organization enables us to entrust each of our employees with real responsibilities and a corresponding level of autonomy.
Each Crédit Mutuel bank or CIC branch manager is fully the “boss” of their profit center, meaning that our employees take more than 90% of our lending decisions – on the ground and in close communication with our members and customers.
Our DNA is naturally geared towards innovation and diversification. Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, which is owned exclusively by its members, invests in development every year to offer them the best possible service. Our group has established itself as a pioneer in bankinsurance, an activity that it has subsequently enhanced by launching numerous other businesses. Its Euro Information subsidiary is France’s leading fintech.
Lastly – and above all – we know that we owe this performance to our employees’ extremely high level of commitment. This is reflected in an ambitious ongoing wage increase policy, generous profit-sharing and incentive schemes, significant investment in training and strong commitments on gender equality.
We care about the well-being and professional fulfillment of each of our staff, throughout their time with us. We commit to hiring 80% of our work-study interns. In a similar vein, in 2020 we signed a “Quality of Life at Work” agreement, covering in particular how to implement remote working measures.
It is undoubtedly no coincidence that Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale’s human resources policy received a number of highly sought after awards last year: Crédit Mutuel and CIC were voted Best Banking Sector Employer in the Statista & Capital survey, Targobank was named Top Employer for 2021 in Germany, and Cofidis and Monabanq both received “Great Place to Work” awards.
Our whole history is testament to the fact that banks are a key part of our economy and our society. And on that note, because being a banker is first and foremost about serving others, I would like to offer you a highly attractive career prospect – that of joining Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale or continuing to rise within its ranks.
Daniel Baal
(LinkedIn – 24 October 2021)