In the works since September, the merger of the banking group’s two retail networks was validated after the boards of the companies concerned met on Saturday and Sunday, French newspaper Les Echos reported.

The merger between Société Générale and Crédit du Nord is one of two major strategic initatives that the group announced in a press release on 7 December. It is also the result of a study between the two entities conducted by the group’s deputy managing director, Sébastien Proto, in which 500 people participated.

The aim of the operation is to strengthen Société Générale's banking activities, the company said, amid rising competition from neobanks arriving on the market in recent years.

By combining its two retail networks and reducing the number of branches from 2,100 to 1,500 in the next five years, Société Générale could save €450m per year from 2025. There should be no forced layoffs, but the bank did not say how many jobs would be lost.

In addition to the merger, the group also announced growing its online bank Boursorama as another initiative of its strategic development. Boursorama is thus aiming to reach over 4 million customers in 2023 and 4.5 million in 2025 in order to generate high profitability. 

“With this change in our business, we are building a model that will improve the satisfaction of all our customers, fully committed to the transformations under way in our society and our economy and addressing the Group’s profitability objectives,” Société Générale CEO Frédéric Oudéa said.