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Crédit du Nord

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Crédit du Nord
Company typeSociété Anonyme
IndustryBanking
PredecessorBanque Générale du Nord
Banque de l'Union Parisienne Edit this on Wikidata
Founded1848; 176 years ago (1848)
DefunctJanuary 1, 2023 (2023-01-01)
FateMerged with Société Générale
SuccessorSociété Générale
ParentSociété Générale Société
Websitewww.credit-du-nord.fr

Crédit du Nord (French pronunciation: [kʁedi dy nɔʁ]) was a French retail banking network. It consisted of the following banks:

Crédit du Nord is fully owned by Société Générale. Crédit du Nord specialises on professionals and small business. It serves about 1.5 million customers in more than 700 stores (2006).

History

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Crédit du Nord started in Lille in 1848. After buying a number of small banks, it was, in turn, acquired by Paribas between 1972 (35% owned) and 1988 (100% owned) but remained run as a separate network. In the following years several regional French banks were brought in the group while retaining their names.

In 1984, it was the fifth-ranking French banking group.[1] It rebranded itself, after working with Creative Business (a public relations company), with a new logo, graphics of its name, the architecture of its branches, and public relations.[1] It changed its logo from an orange cube to a blue star.[1]

In 1997, the whole Crédit du Nord network with the associated banks was acquired by Société Générale from Paribas. Since 2000, Crédit du Nord is 80% owned by Société Générale and 20% by Dexia.[citation needed]

A full merger with Société Générale was achieved 2023.[citation needed]

The customer-facing SG Crédit du Nord (SG meaning Société Générale) brand[2] is applied to both the former Crédit du Nord, and the Société Générale branches in the North of France.[3]

As with SG Crédit du Nord, the remaining Crédit du Nord banks' identities are also applied as regional brand names:

Controversy

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In 2010, the French government's Autorité de la concurrence (the department in charge of regulating competition) fined eleven banks, including Crédit du Nord, the sum of €384,900,000 for colluding to charge unjustified fees on check processing, especially for extra fees charged during the transition from paper check transfer to "Exchanges Check-Image" electronic transfer.[4][5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Chevalier, Michel (2012). Luxury Brand Management. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-17176-9.
  2. ^ "Société Générale - Crédit du Nord : une inédite prime de fusion promise aux salariés". L'Agefi (in French). 2022-11-18. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
  3. ^ "SG en régions". Société Générale (in French). Retrieved 2023-06-04.
  4. ^ Collusion in the banking sector, Press Release of Autorité de la concurrence, République Française, 20 September 2010, retrv 2010 9 20
  5. ^ 3rd UPDATE: French Watchdog Fines 11 Banks For Fee Cartel[permanent dead link], Elena Bertson, Dow Jones News Wires / Wall Street Journal online, retr 2010 9 20
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