The European Savings and Retail Banking Group is a European banking association representing 32 members from 27 countries (EU and non-EU), comprising 857 savings and retail banks. These institutions operate a total of 37,000 branches and employ 620,000 people.
, ESBG members had â¬3.715 trillion in loans to on their books, financing households and SMEs, and supporting productive investment across the Europe. , ESBG had declared 22 lobbyists working for the organisation.
The European Savings and Retail Banking Group was founded in 1963 as the 'Savings Banks Group of the European Economic Community'. The association changed its name to European Savings Banks Group in 1988 and then to its current name in 2013. ESBG is the sister organization of the World Savings and Retail Banks Institute, with both organizations managed in Brussels by a WSBI-ESBG jointly run Office.
ESBG represents the locally focused European banking sector at the center of EU decision-making, helping European savings and retail banks strengthen their unique approach that focuses on providing service to local communities and boosting SMEs. It also advocates for a diverse banking sector, arguing that pluralism and diversity safeguard the market against shocks that arise from time to time, whether caused by internal or external forces.
ESBG hosts the Retail Banking Conference every year, bringing together members of the European Parliament, high-level officials from the European Commission, the ECB and other EU institutions, as well as CEOs and top representatives of savings and retail banks to discuss the future of the banking sector and its contribution to Europe's strategic priorities in key areas, such as payments, long-term investment and housing.
Since 1999, the ESBG has backed an international competition called the European Stock Market Learning. Organized by Savings Banks, the stock market simulation contest aims to enhance financial literacy and equip high school students with a better understanding of the economic and financial world, including the functioning of the stock markets. In 2025 and 2026, ESBG hosted the ESML Awards Ceremony to celebrate the top-performing student groups and their teachers. In 2026, a new category was added to prizes: the Sustainability Award, which honors the successful integration of environmental, social, and governance considerations into investment strategies.