In Italy the micro and small business sector is going through a particularly complex phase, characterized by a significant lack of credit and increasing difficulties in accessing financing. According to the latest Censis report, the average interest rate on new loans has been decreasing for seven consecutive quarters, after reaching a peak of 5.75% in the third quarter of 2023, before falling to 3.99% in 2025.
However, there remains a marked territorial gap in the provision of credit, with significant differences between regions which especially affect micro and small businesses. The Censis analyzes highlight how the expansion of credit has mainly affected large companies, while smaller companies are the most penalized. In particular, in the section Territories and networks of the Censis report, it emerges that between December 2023 and December 2024 the contraction in loans was particularly accentuated.
The birth of the new Artigiancassa fits into this context, which, according to Adelio Ferrari, represents a strategic tool to enhance and facilitate access to credit for small businesses. The relaunch of Artigiancassa begins with the acquisition of the financial intermediary BGA by Mediocredito Centrale and AGART SpA, a company owned by Confartigianato, CNA, Casartigiani and Fedart Fidi.
As Ferrari underlines, “Artigiancassa becomes a direct channel of access to credit, configuring itself as a financial instrument of real support for businesses in the artisan sector. The objective is to offer a concrete response, in financial terms, to Piedmontese and Italian artisan entrepreneurs, whose need for credit is real and indispensable for planning investments and implementing ecological and digital development projects”.
Artigiancassa’s main mission is to provide rapid and effective responses to an entire sector on a national scale, allowing access to medium-long term financing solutions through an integrated model that combines the widespread presence of Artigiancassa Points in the area with the digital management guaranteed by Mediocredito Centrale.
Ferrari concludes by highlighting how “tools of this type restore the right value to a sector, the artisan one, which has always represented a backbone of the Italian economy and the country’s productive excellence. It is essential to continue on this path to provide concrete answers to artisan entrepreneurs, true helmsmen of a sector that must necessarily regain the central role it deserves”.
The data also confirms a picture of growing criticality: the contraction of credit is more marked for micro-enterprises at high or high risk (-7.92%, up compared to -7.18% in December 2024), while medium-sized enterprises at low risk also record a reduction in financing (-5.96% in December 2024 and -3.96% in the following December). The focus on Piedmontese businesses highlights a clear imbalance in access to credit: the TAE (Annual Effective Rate) for small businesses in Piedmont, recorded in June 2024, stands at 8.96%, against the 6.42% applied to medium-large businesses.
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