Rabobank in business

Gaining access to financial services opened the door to economic growth for many hundreds of people in the Netherlands more than a hundred years ago. Rabobank was founded on this principle of equal access in the 19th century and it still guides the bank’s activities in the 21st century.

In 2004 Rabobank decided to expand its geographical and strategic scope in developing countries and to develop leading nationwide banks with a rural orientation in selected developing countries. There are two reasons for this new strategy, one related to its past and origin and the other related to its future and ambitions.

The initial objective of the co-operative local Rabobanks is to provide financial services to those who currently have limited or no access to them, in particular, but not exclusively, in rural areas. Nowadays the availability of financial services in countries such as the Netherlands is not an issue anymore. With this new strategy, Rabobank is extending its original objective to include other parts of the world, thereby reaffirming its mission as a co-operative bank that was established with the purpose of overcoming certain market imperfections.

It furthermore fulfils this objective through Rabo Development that acquires participating interests in partner banks in order to contribute to both developing the financial sector and in turn to promoting the development of the (rural) economies in these countries.