CFI magazine names UniCredit as Best Social Impact Bank in Europe for the second time
- UniCredit has been named by Capital Finance International magazine (CFI.co) as the Best Social Impact Bank in Europe in 2021, with the judges particularly highlighting the integration of sustainability into the business strategy and the range of sustainable solutions offered
- Successful scaling up of Social Impact Banking in Austria: in 2021 UniCredit Bank Austria will provide a number of impact financings for social projects as well as a total of EUR 3.7 million in microcredit; in addition, the bank will continue to be intensively involved in the area of financial education
UniCredit has been named by Capital Finance International magazine (CFI.co) as the Best Social Impact Bank in Europe in 2021. For the second year in a row, the magazine has selected UniCredit as the leading institution for making a strong contribution towards positive social impact to support the real economy across Europe.
The judges highlighted UniCredit’s commitment to a robust value system and significant efforts in integrating sustainability across its capital strategies. Furthermore, the bank’s offer of concrete solutions for sustainable development, including financial education for the youth and capacity-building programmes for female entrepreneurs were commended as well as UniCredit’s clear progress on several ambitious ESG targets.
Commenting on the award, Roberta Marracino, Head of Group ESG Strategy & Impact Banking, said: “We are extremely proud to once again be acknowledged by CFI as the Best Social Impact Bank in Europe. We continue to work hard towards our ESG goals with a strong commitment to support our clients and communities in the current transition phase, ensuring a just pathway for all towards an increasingly inclusive and sustainable economy and society.”
Since its first launch in Italy at the end of 2017, UniCredit’s Social Impact Banking (SIB) programme has provided over 5,270 loans, including impact finance and microcredit, across 11 UniCredit markets to support social entrepreneurs and initiatives with a measurable positive social impact amounting to a total of more than EUR 295 million disbursed (figures as at end of June 2021).
Successful scaling up of Social Impact Banking in Austria
Since the start of Social Impact Banking in 2019, eleven financings have been granted to companies in Austria, enabling them to realise projects with a verifiable social background. A total volume of more than EUR 46.5 million was distributed and around 42,000 people were directly supported in 2021 alone. Among these beneficiaries were people with disabilities, seriously ill children, people with mental care needs, as well as schoolchildren.
In 2020, 50 microcredit loansin total EUR 1.1 million supported small and micro enterprises in a wide range of sectors. A volume of EUR 3.7 million is planned for 2021. In addition, financial education workshops, the financial education programme “Money Matters” and the Geldwissen2Go app provided nearly 2,000 schoolchildren with a playful introduction to financial knowledge.
“The Corona pandemic has once again clearly shown us how important social cohesion is in order to cope well and actively with crises of this kind,” says Robert Zadrazil, CEO of UniCredit Bank Austria. “This is exactly where Social Impact Banking comes in: We support social projects to make society as a whole stronger. Recently, for example, we have provided Caritas of the Archdiocese of Vienna with financing for the currently under construction ‘magdas Hotel im Stephanushaus’ in Vienna's third district, and Caritas Socialis with financing for the Kalksburg nursing home, which specialises in people suffering from dementia.”
Enquiries:
UniCredit Media Relations
E-Mail: mediarelations@unicredit.eu
UniCredit Bank Austria Press Office
Matthias Raftl, tel.: +43 (0) 5 05 05-52809
E-mail: matthias.raftl@unicreditgroup.at