AbstractIn this paper we prove that the equational class generated by bounded BCK‐algebras is the variety generated by the class of finite simple bounded BCK‐algebras. To obtain these results we prove that every simple algebra in the equational class generated by bounded BCK‐algebras is also a relatively simple bounded BCK‐algebra. Moreover, we show that every simple bounded BCK‐algebra can be embedded into a simple integral commutative bounded residuated lattice. We extend our main results to some richer subreducts of the class of integral commutative bounded residuated lattices and to the involutive case. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)