Thirty-four billion euros. This is the outstanding balance of solidarity finance in France today, up 15% over one year. A figure that says something essential: in a context often marked by distrust and fragmentation, many savers have chosen to give concrete meaning to their money.
There is also, when you think about it, something profoundly political in the gesture of a saver who decides that his money will act for the creation of inclusive shared accommodation in Rennes for people with mental disabilities, a shared garden in Hauts-de-France or even a gym class for elderly, isolated and dependent people in Paris. That’s what solidarity finance is: a range of social and ecological initiatives whose effects can be measured in the real life of the territories and its inhabitants.
Finance serving others and the environment
The three projects that this 2026 Barometer has chosen to highlight – Fratries, Les Anges gardins and Siel bleu – are the reflection of a fundamental movement, that of a finance of solutions, concrete, anchored in the territories, in the service of early childhood, aging well, housing, biodiversity, or even sustainable agriculture…
In a context of political polarization, there is something deeply valuable about this movement. It proves that it is possible to act on your own scale but for the benefit of the general interest, through daily actions such as saving.
The common thread of this 2026 Barometer, “Building society: solidarity finance at the heart of the territories”, is not a slogan. It’s a reality that we wanted to document, embody, and for the first time have it told by those who experience it, namely the savers themselves, whose testimonies you will discover.
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