UniCredit

Is UniCredit safe?

Yes, for ordinary deposits. UniCredit, Italy's second-largest bank, had a CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary of 14.3% at 30 June 2026, about four points above its 10.24% requirement, and a liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary of about 140%. It made a record €6.37 billion of net profit in the first half of 2026. We score it 72/100, below Crédit Agricole at 80 and Commerzbank at 75. The deductions come from ratings capped by Italy's own credit rating, a conduct and data-security record with real lapses, and a difficult decade after 2008.

How Italian deposit protection works

Italian accounts at UniCredit S.p.A. are covered by the Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi (FITD) up to €100,000 per depositor per bank. Repayment is due within seven working days of the bank being put into liquidation. The FITD states that the limit applies per bank even when banks belong to the same group.

That matters because UniCredit is several banks. HypoVereinsbank in Germany, UniCredit Bank Austria and the group's banks in Central and Eastern Europe are separate legal entities under their own national schemes. A German customer of HypoVereinsbank is covered by the German statutory scheme and, above that, the private banks' voluntary fund, not by the FITD.

Capital, ratings and the Commerzbank bid

The capital buffer is healthy, but it is also about to be used. UniCredit has bid for Commerzbank. The offer brought in 17.6% of Commerzbank's shares, lifting UniCredit's position, including derivatives, to 47.59% on 8 July 2026, about half the voting rights. Control still needs ECB approval, and the European Commission is due to rule on competition by 16 November 2026. If it gains control and consolidates the German bank, it expects its CET1 ratio to drop to about 13% before rebuilding. That would still be about three points above its requirement.

Ratings tell a different story from the balance sheet. Moody's rates UniCredit's senior debt and deposits A3 and says that is already the maximum two notches above Italy's rating. S&P rates it A- with a positive outlook. A bank this profitable would be rated higher if it were based elsewhere, which is why we score capital lower than at French and German peers with similar ratios.

A decade of rebuilding after 2008

UniCredit never took a direct state bailout, but it came close to needing one. It raised capital from shareholders repeatedly after 2008, including €7.5 billion in 2012. Bad loans from Italy's long recession then forced a 2016 net loss of about €11.8 billion and a €13 billion rights issue in 2017. Since 2021 it has been consistently and highly profitable. It still runs a bank in Russia, which it is shrinking; Russian revenues fell by about 40% year on year in the first half of 2026.

Fines and the 2018 data breach

• April 2019: UniCredit and two subsidiaries paid about $1.3 billion to US authorities over sanctions breaches, including a $158 million Federal Reserve fine for inadequate sanctions controls and supervision of its subsidiary banks.
• March 2024: Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, fined it €2.8 million over a 2018 cyberattack that exposed personal data of hundreds of thousands of customers and former customers. The Garante criticised weak PINs and missing technical safeguards. UniCredit said it would appeal.

Tips for UniCredit customers

1. Keep deposits at UniCredit S.p.A. within €100,000 per person. Joint accounts give each holder their own share of cover.
2. If you hold accounts at HypoVereinsbank or Bank Austria as well, they have separate limits under German and Austrian rules.
3. Bonds issued by UniCredit itself are not deposits and can be written down in a resolution. Check what you hold if a branch sold you "safe" bank bonds.
4. Use the app's mobile token for logins and payments, and never share a code with a caller, even one using a real UniCredit number.

How we scored it

Liquidity (84) and deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary (82) are the strongest factors, and capital (74) is solid but held back by ratings. Conduct (58) and stability history (58) are the weakest. For a comparison with another euro-area group, see Santander.