Responsible banking
10 Nov 2023
Bank services
Banking solutions for vulnerable and elderly customers and those living in remote rural communities in Spain
The surge in online banking has heralded many benefits for customers who insist on being able to bank wherever and whenever they choose. However, the digital revolution has been harder for many older customers, who are not very Internet savvy, and for those living in villages and rural parts of Spain. Moreover, customers finding it hard to keep up with their payment obligations need solutions, such as tailoring installments to their payment capacity or having their loan refinanced. Banks have reacted to these social demands and are stepping up to the challenge.
09 Jun 2022
Clean Water and Sanitation
Garanti BBVA and TURMEPA recover and recycle 30 tons of waste from the Sea of Marmara
Türkiye's Garanti BBVA is partnering with the DenizTemiz Association / TURMEPA in the joint Blue Breath project, in a bid to mitigate marine pollution. The initiative has recovered 30 tons of waste over a six-month period from the Sea of Marmara.
31 May 2022
Garanti BBVA acted as main sponsor of Harvard Business Review Turkey's Sustainability Summit held last week, where business leaders and experts discussed various approaches to understanding, internalizing and focusing on sustainability.
01 Apr 2022
Social taxonomy is the classification of economic activities that significantly contribute to social goals in the EU and represent a common code for investors, businesses and regulators regarding what is sustainable from a social perspective and what is not.
28 Feb 2022
BBVA allocated €106.3 million to social programs and initiatives that benefited 44.2 million people in 2021. This figure accounts for 20% of total planned expenditure, as announced in the Bank's Community Commitment for the period 2021-2025 (€500 million). In the first year of the period, 45% of the goal of reaching 100 million people has almost been achieved.
02 Dec 2021
Following Glasgow’s 26th Climate Change Conference (COP26), BBVA’s Turkish unit and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) recently held a workshop to discuss the prospects of climate financing and sustainability efforts in developing nations.
26 Nov 2021
Financial education
BBVA’s financial education grants will finance five projects seeking to resolve challenges from the pandemic
BBVA’s Center for Financial Education and Capability has announced the five financial education research projects that will receive funding through its grant program, BBVA EduFin Research Grants. A total of €50,000 will be distributed among the winning projects, whose research will take place in Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.
11 Nov 2021
BBVA’s Turkish franchise is a leader in sustainable finance in its sector and plays an important role in the country’s development. In response to an invitation from the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Garanti BBVA Vice President Ebru Dildar Edin analyzed the current status of sustainability in the world and the importance of the financial sector to support the transition toward a more sustainable economy.
18 Oct 2021
The bank was also recognized as the best investment bank of the year. Ebru Dildar Edin, Executive Vice President of Garanti BBVA, reaffirmed the bank's commitment to “continue to maintain its sustainability and investment objectives and to set more ambitious goals each year.”
04 Oct 2021
Financial education
BBVA points to digitization and inclusion as financial education's greatest challenges
The BBVA Center for Financial Education and Capability has published the 2021 EduFin Position Paper, a document that represents the Center’s position on the current state of financial education at a global level. This report highlights the role of financial education and its challenges in contributing to a more sustainable society in the post-COVID recovery phase. According to the study, digitization and financial inclusion will be key. Its publication coincides with Spain’s Financial Education Day, which is celebrated on October 4 with the slogan ‘Your finances, also sustainable.’
22 Sep 2021
Banking sector commitment to UN Principles of Responsible Banking gains firm and steady traction: two years after launch 240 institutions have already become signatories. We take a look at this project of United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the progress achieved since it launched two years ago.
23 Jun 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the implementation of new forms of flexible working, for which digital transformation has been key. Thousands of workers have had to convert their homes into places of work, almost overnight. This fact has affected the work life balance, and it became of utmost importance in an ecosystem where work and life were sharing space, to facilitate that balance.
23 Apr 2021
Garanti BBVA has managed to achieve carbon neutrality by reducing its direct carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to zero.
29 Mar 2021
BBVA Sustainability Projects
Garanti BBVA receives the award for the best Turkish investment bank for its sustainable financing efforts
Global Finance has named Garanti BBVA the Best Investment Bank in Turkey for the fourth time in the last five years.
26 Mar 2021
One year after the outbreak of the health crisis in Spain, we spoke to some of the leaders in the fight against the virus to find out how aid was mobilized. In the case of science, researchers consider this aid “essential for the research of this pandemic.” Three and a half million people have benefited from the global plan that BBVA launched in March 2020, ‘Social Response to COVID-19’. The money has been used to purchase medical equipment, support vulnerable groups and for research on the disease.
Garanti BBVA reaffirms its commitment against climate change and announces that it will stop financing coal-related activities.
24 Mar 2021
Financial education
BBVA's financial education programs have benefited more than 29 million people since 2008
BBVA has invested €91.4 million in financial education programs that have benefited 29.2 million people (almost the equivalent of the population of Peru) since 2008, the year in which it launched its Global Financial Education Plan. On the occasion of the European Money Week and Global Money Week celebrations, BBVA also announced that in 2020 it devoted a total of €2.7 million to fund these initiatives that contribute to promoting financial health among communities.
16 Mar 2021
Garanti BBVA, Ekonomist magazine and the Turkish Association of WomenEntrepreneurs (KAGIDER) completed the 14th edition of their Women Entrepreneurs of Turkey Contest. The winners in the four categories were announced during the awards ceremony, which took place online on March 5th.
11 Mar 2021
BBVA increased its investment in social programs and initiatives by 25 percent, from €113.8 million in 2019 to €142.2 million in 2020, directly benefiting 12.2 million people. Additionally, the institution has promoted access to various training platforms to more than 15.6 million people. In 2020, BBVA's social initiatives reached a total of 27.8 million people in countries where the Group is present.
10 Mar 2021
Customer experience
Garanti BBVA Breaks New Ground Sharing its Commitments to Society in Integrated Annual Report 2020
Placing the core values of its corporate culture at the heart of its banking activities, Garanti BBVA issued its Integrated Annual Report 2020 with the concept "The Meaning We Attach to Words". Integrating the real life reflections of its commitments to the society alongside economic indicators in its legal annual reporting, Garanti BBVA also describes the sustainability principles it has implemented in the process.
05 Mar 2021
Video
Carlos Torres Vila
Statement on the updated BBVA's Environmental and Social Framework from Chairman Carlos Torres Vila
Carlos Torres Vila, Chairman:
04 Mar 2021
Microfinance Foundation
Women and health: the privilege of having a microinsurance policy in Latin America
The many manifestations of COVID-19 have made us susceptible to associating any of its wide-ranging symptoms to the virus and we forget that other conditions still exist and need to be tended to. More worrisome is the fact that globally, public health measures to control the pandemic, including mobility restrictions and prioritization of COVID-19 treatment, coupled with the economic crisis that is producing an increase in poverty, has made it even more challenging for low-income patients to access treatment in a timely manner. In Latin America, according to Pfizer, the number of medical consultations and oncological visits nearly halved. Moreover, in the region, having medical coverage and access to basic health care is limited to very few people.
26 Feb 2021
Microfinance Foundation
First in Latin America and second worldwide: BBVAMF still leads in contribution to development
For yet another year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published the data reported by nearly 40 of the largest foundations in member countries of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), to showcase the impact of private philanthropy. For second year running, the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF) ranks as the leading contributor to development in Latin America, and the world's second, next to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
12 Feb 2021
Responsible banking
3.5 million people have benefited from BBVA’s social support initiatives against COVID-19
In 2020, BBVA launched its 'COVID-19 Social Response Plan' with €35.7 million to help society at large. The funds were primarily used to purchase medical equipment to support public health systems. In addition, the bank collaborated with a variety of different organizations to support vulnerable groups, and promoted research on the disease and its side effects. More than 3.5 million people directly benefited from these initiatives, rolled out on top of another batch of measures implemented to support clients and customers, including payment deferrals and government backed loans.
11 Feb 2021
Garanti BBVA has been included in Bloomberg’s Gender Equality Index - a recognition it received thanks to its internal equality policies, the benefits it provides its customers and its successful efforts through its entire value chain.
09 Feb 2021
Responsible banking
BBVA reaches 50 percent of its sustainable financing target one year ahead of schedule until 2025
BBVA reached €50.2 billion in sustainable financing at the end of December 2020. This means it has achieved half of its sustainable financing objective foreseen for the 2018-2025 period (€100 billion), one year ahead of schedule. The growth rate in the financing of this type of BBVA sustainable operation is 33 percent more than planned.
08 Feb 2021
Corporate responsibility
BBVA, the second most sustainable bank in the world and silver medalist in S&P Global’s Sustainability Yearbook
BBVA received the banking industry’s silver award in the yearbook put together by S&P Global, analyst for the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), the ranking in which the Group rose to the position of the second most sustainable bank in the world in 2020.
27 Jan 2021
Financial system
BBVA participates in the first report on the application of Europe’s sustainable taxonomy to banking products
How do you know if a banking product is sustainable and contributes to the protection of the environment? In 2020, 26 banks including BBVA, tested how the European Union's taxonomy on sustainable activities could be applied to core banking products. Common criteria for determining which products are sustainable could allow banks to drive sustainable financing for the entire economy.
31 Dec 2020
Under the agreement with EBRD, Garanti BBVA will prioritize its investments with high sustainability performance for those who want to improve their performance while financing the investment projects.