Can we first provide an overview of your bank's financial and customer success in recent years?
«For the Raiffeisen Bank Colline del CeresioThe desire and commitment to sustainable management and added value are deeply rooted in our cooperative principles. As a banking group, Raiffeisen generates significant financial added value for its members and society every year, including through benefits, compensation for membership fees, and leisure benefits for members. Incidentally, this year, 2025, the Raiffeisen Group will celebrate its 125th anniversary.
The market environment will remain challenging in the 2025 financial year due to the current economic situation and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties. Despite this, Raiffeisen Bank Colline del Ceresio expects solid business performance. Thanks to its focus on increasing customer proximity, Raiffeisen Bank Colline del Ceresio is on the right track.
What are the main elements of your strategy aimed at consolidating your roots in the local area?
Dialogue with the local area – network & innovation: the new headquarters of Banca Raiffeisen Colline del Ceresio in Savosa, at Via San Gottardo 131, is a meeting point for our members, customers, and the economic community that immediately seized the opportunities offered by the space.
As a consulting bank within our business area, the new headquarters is a central element of the Bank's operations. It aims to become a local business hub, offering its over 475 square meters of space to foster the development of startups, opportunities for roundtable discussions, and interactive events involving local authorities and companies, who choose to use our facility as a venue for conventions and conferences. This diversification strategy propels our Raiffeisen Colline del Ceresio Bank from a product provider to a provider of unique, engaging solutions.
In particular, which products and services do you offer that are most appreciated by customers?
Providing space for the local economy means creating opportunities and infrastructure that foster the growth and development of economic activities within our area of operation. This can include providing spaces, dedicated areas, and promoting meeting places for associations.
The goal is to strengthen the economic fabric of the area, increasing the competitiveness of local businesses and improving the quality of life for residents. Our offering of spaces distinguishes us by our closeness to associations and entrepreneurs, adopting a cooperative and sustainability-oriented approach that fosters the collective interest and creates added value.
We are also particularly pleased to have obtained the SNBS Gold (Swiss Sustainable Building Standard) and Minergie P-ECO certifications, motivating us to also aim for ISO 14001 recognition as a guarantee of the continuity of a responsible corporate policy.
Furthermore, we are delighted to have received the Best Architects Award 2026 in the "office/administrative buildings" category for our Savosa headquarters project. This award is one of the most prestigious internationally, and we are delighted to share this honor with our architect, Mr. Aldo Celoria.
You've dedicated the third floor of your headquarters to developing specific activities and initiatives focused on fostering a privileged relationship with the local economy. What are these initiatives?
Providing space for the local economy is an investment in the future of the area, benefiting both businesses and residents by creating a more dynamic and attractive environment. Ambitious goals for the community include encouraging the development of areas such as start-ups by providing adequate infrastructure and services; supporting local businesses, for example, by hosting association meetings;
Promote the creation of business incubators for new businesses with new activities, enabling professional training; and improve accessibility to educational institutions thanks to our easy access by public transportation.
What is your assessment of the health of the Ticino economy?
In a period of particular pressure and uncertainty, our Canton demonstrates structural resilience, thanks to a diverse business community and a growing focus on innovation, sustainability, and digitalization. However, challenges remain: rising operating costs, more selective access to credit, a shortage of skilled labor, and uncertainties related to the international geopolitical and regulatory environment. In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the economic backbone of our region, face strong competitive pressure, particularly in the retail, construction, and services sectors. Innovation is certainly a key path to developing new economic and professional opportunities for value creation.
What measures should be promoted, including political, fiscal, and other measures, to foster the growth of businesses in your area?
We believe that strengthening the local economy requires targeted and coordinated public policies. First and foremost, we need greater incentives and tax measures to incentivize long-term investments and support entrepreneurship, particularly for SMEs and start-ups. Streamlining administrative and decision-making processes could also attract attractive investors for commercial and financial development at home and abroad.
From our perspective, collaboration between the business community, institutions, and education should also be strengthened to reduce the mismatch between skills supply and demand. At the local level, we believe the role of locally rooted businesses, which ensure employment and social cohesion, should be enhanced with targeted support tools that take into account the specificities of individual districts, such as the Lugano area we serve.
As a cooperative bank, we believe that economic growth must go hand in hand with social responsibility and sustainability, and in this sense, we hope that public policies will recognize and support those who invest long-term in the development of the local area and the environment.
