Bankia was founded in July 2010 when seven savings banks —Caja Madrid, Bancaja, Caja Canarias, Caja Ávila, Caixa Laietana, Caja Segovia y Caja Rioja— combined into an Institutional Protection Scheme (IPS).

Under those initials the new merged group integrated its organisation and management, acting as a single entity for accounting and regulatory purposes.

On 3 December 2010, Banco Financiero y de Ahorros was created and gave rise months later to Bankia, the trade name of the bank formed from the merger of the seven former 'cajas'. After its initial public offering, in July 2011, in the midst of a deep economic recession, the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB) nationalised 100% of the Bank, which as from 2012 was headed by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri.