Starting in 1894, the bank set up the structures characterising a large, modern credit institution. As well as collecting company and private deposits, its branches started to provide short-term operating credits for industrialists and traders. It also moved into placing shares with the general public, issuing private debenture loans in France and also in Russia.

Acquisition of equity stakes became a more secondary activity. The company's excellent financial health allowed it to expand its shareholding structure. In 1895, Société Générale had 14,000 shareholders -- in 1913 they numbered 122,000.

The war years were difficult and had serious consequences with the loss of Russian business. However, during the 1920s, Société Générale became France's leading bank: its network had grown sharply since the 1890s, with a huge number of branches and seasonal offices allowing in-depth penetration of the provincial market (260 seasonal offices in 1910 and 864 in 1930). The number of sales outlets rose from 1,005 in 1913 to 1,457 in 1933 (including those operated by Sogenal).

Thanks also to the dynamism of supervisory and management staff at head office and in the branch offices, it moved ahead of Crédit Lyonnais in terms of deposits collected and loans distributed between 1921 and 1928. To satisfy the requirements of investing companies, Société Générale created a subsidiary, CALIF, specialised in medium-term credit, in 1928.