The company started to hire employees and establish offices. Coverage of France went ahead at a steady rate. By 1870, the bank had 15 branches in Paris and 32 in the French provinces. It set up a permanent office in London in 1871. The network started to attract customers -- small outfits, or smaller companies as they would be known later, and capitalists, the name for private customers at that time -- while the big companies were serviced by the head office.

At the beginning, the bank used its own resources almost entirely for both financial and banking operations. In 1871, Société Générale moved into the public French issues market with a national debenture loan launched to cover the war indemnity stipulated in the Treaty of Frankfurt.

From 1871 to 1893, the country went through a period of economic gloom marked by the failure of several banking establishments. The network continued to grow at a more moderate pace -- in 1889, there were 148 banking outlets, demonstrating the group's capacity to withstand unfavourable economic conditions.