This paper explores the effects of changes in bank credit on firm growth before and after the recent global financial crisis, taking into account firm-specific and country-specific characteristics as well as structural characteristics of domestic banking sectors. Panel quantile analysis is used on a sample of 2075 euro area firms in 2005–2011, enabling thus the identification of potential differences in the dynamics between high-growth and low-growth firms. The post-2008 credit crunch is found to seriously affect mostly high-leveraged, low-growth firms operating in concentrated banking systems with weak foreign presence, and in riskier and less financially developed European economies. By contrast, high-growth firms are not affected and, thus, may be expected to facilitate and sustain the post-crisis credit-less recovery in the euro area. A policy implication of our findings is that creating the right conditions for the emergence of innovative high-growth firms may be a more effective growth strategy, especially in adverse times, as compared to a general policy covering all types of firms.