In 1483, the Franciscan religious Angelo Da Chivasso, founded the mount of piety (Italian: Monte di Pietà) of Genoa.

[2][non-primary source needed] In 1846, a decree of Piedmont-Sardinia King Charles Albert of Sardinia created the Cassa di Risparmio di Genova,[2][non-primary source needed] which extended the basic financial services of the mount to encourage and protect small savings more widely.

The bank absorbed Istituto di Credito Fondiario della Liguria and Mediocredito Ligure.

Between 2000 and 2002, Carige completed three further acquisitions of branches from other banks: 21 branches from Banco di Sicilia, 61 from Banca Intesa group, and 42 from the Capitalia Group in Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia–Romagna, Tuscany, Lazio, Marche, Umbria, Apulia, and Sicily.

[8][9] However, in 2016 the new board of directors wanted to sue the old managers for mismanagement by selling the insurance companies, claiming it was actually harmful to the bank instead of gain.

[23] In November 2018, the bank was bailed out by the voluntary arm of the Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi (FITD).

[28] The board of directors, controlled by Malacalza Investimenti, rejected the proposed capital increase in December 2018.

[32][33] On 14 February 2022, the purchase negotiation by BPER Banca was concluded, with the approval of the Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi (FITD).

[35] The Monte di Pietà of Genoa is sold to Affide, a brand of Custodia Valore - Credito su Pegno S.p.A. and from 2022 part of it.

The former Banca Carige Chairman Giovanni Berneschi had been sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment by an Italian Court in July 2018, due to a fraud that related to the bank.