UniCreditSocial Impact Banking ("SIB") is UniCredit's commitment to building a fairer and more inclusive society by identifying, financing and promoting initiatives that can have a positive social impact.
The programme, which started in Italy at the end of 2017, has now been extended to 10 other Group countries (Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, Hungary).
Social Impact Banking allows UniCredit to help people at risk of financial exclusion and companies committed to addressing social issues.
We want to give them confidence, we value their talent and merit, we support their financial awareness, we provide them with credit, skills and access to key networks, working in partnership with a focus on both, the economic returns of our investments and the generation of wider societal benefits.
This is fully in line with UniCredit's strong commitment to supporting the communities everywhere we operate.
Distinctive elements of Social Impact Banking are the integration of economic evaluation with that of social impact in the choice of initiatives to support, and the culture of monitoring and measurement of the social impacts achieved.
It is fundamental for us to demonstrate that we are achieving the objectives of financial inclusion and providing concrete support to vulnerable social groups. We therefore strongly encourage the companies we finance to measure the impacts they generate (which must be intentional and additional) according to the specific social dimensions related to their sector.
We are committed to supporting the growth of companies, helping to consolidate business models and setting an example for other initiatives because a sustainable economy improves the community and enables healthy growth for all.
UniCredit has long been active in the social field through various initiatives.
With the birth of Social Impact Banking, we significantly strengthened our commitment through three areas that pursue the aim of generating positive social impacts in the communities where we operate: Impact financing, MicroCredit and Financial education.
The external and internal involvement of people and institutions that share our mission is essential to achieve success in the projects we support. Through collaboration with our partners we are able to build ecosystems where small businesses and social enterprises can grow and develop and where vulnerable people can be included in production cycles and society.
UniCredit's people play a key role in identifying the most deserving initiatives and helping them grow. Their talent and experience form the core of training and support activities in all countries where Social Impact Banking is present.
To further support the significant commitment of our employees, we have helped establish the UniGens volunteer association in Italy, which welcomes both, colleagues and former colleagues of the Group.
