[6] The starting point of BCP Group was a Royal Decree or dahir promulgated by the authorities of the French protectorate in Morocco on 25 May 1926 authorizing the formation of cooperative banks in the territory, inspired by the French legislation of 1917 that organized what later became France's Groupe Banque Populaire.

On 2 February 1961, a new decree of the newly independent monarchy reorganized the network and established the BCP, a government agency, as its central entity.

[9] In 1990, it initiated an expansion into Africa following governmental agreements between Morocco and the Central African Republic (CAR) and Guinea.

The BCP was reorganized as a joint-stock company in 2000, and partly privatized in 2004 by listing on the Casablanca Stock Exchange.

[11] In 2015 a restructuring raised the equity ownership of the BCP in the regional banks to majority stakes of 52 percent, the rest remaining owned by the cooperative clients.

In 2015, the BCP Group acquired the former operations of Banque Internationale pour l'Afrique Occidentale (BIAO) in Niger.

[15]: 14 In March 2023, BCP entered into a long-term partnership with Mastercard to improve services in terms of digital solutions and payments.