Credito Romagnolo was a private bank based in Bologna and mainly active in Emilia-Romagna, founded in 1896 by the Catholic Giovanni Acquaderni (who was the first president, from 1896 to '98) as a Piccolo Credito Romagnolo.

The expansion of the institute began in 1905, when the first branches were opened outside the walls of Bologna, in the towns of the province; then in the province of Ferrara (Cento, Bondeno, Copparo, Massa Fiscaglia, Portomaggiore, Argenta, Comacchio) and progressively in Romagna (Imola, Faenza, Castel Bolognese, Lugo, Ravenna and in the Forlì area).

Subsequently, disputes arose between Bologna and Ferrara on the directing criteria of the bank's activity (governance). Then came the decision of the Court of Bologna of 17 July 1914, which sanctioned the separation of the activities in the Ferrara area (they formed the "Piccolo Credito"). Together, Bologna and Romagna formed the "Credito Romagnolo", also passing from a cooperative company to a joint stock company (in the terminology of the time, anonymous company).

Particularly flourishing due to the economic vivacity of the area of ​​origin, in 1995 it merged into Rolo Banca 1473 together with the Banca del Monte of Bologna and Ravenna and the Cassa di Risparmio di Modena (which had already integrated into the Carimonte Bank, the first under the so-called Amato law).

In 2002 it joined the Unicredit Group. The current headquarters of Unicredit Banca, via Guglielmo Oberdan 9 in Bologna, was the historic headquarters of Credito Romagnolo.