Measures taken by Center-invest Bank in response to COVID-19 have been highlighted as examples of best practice among signatories to the Principles of Responsible Banking of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)1.
The signatories to the UNEP FI’s Principles of Responsible Banking, over 200 banks from 60 countries, have been sharing their experience of supporting companies, working with governments, ensuring safe working conditions for staff, and providing uninterrupted access to key financial services and infrastructure.
Center-invest Bank shared the following best practice solutions:
- For retail customers: enhanced contact centre service, 24/7 response on social networks, remote services, fees scrapped, free delivery of bank cards to customers aged over 65, preferential mortgage rates;
- For businesses: loan repayment holidays, interest-free loans to pay salaries, loans for business recovery and transformation (the bank’s own loan programmes and government-subsidised programmes);
- For staff and customers: hygiene and infection control measures, two thirds of employees transferred to home working;
- For shareholders: regular updates on the financial situation, monitoring measures taken by government authorities.
All of Center-invest Bank’s products and projects reflect its responsible attitude to the social development of the regions in which it operates, the protection of natural resources, improving financial literacy, and developing entrepreneurship. Demonstrating social responsibility, the bank regularly publishes articles on economic development and financial institutions2.
Center-invest Bank became an official signatory to the UNEP FI’s Principles for Responsible Banking on 1 November 2019. The Principles establish the role and responsibility of the banking industry in shaping a sustainable future and bringing the sector into alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.
Center-invest Bank is using the new business opportunities of a distance economy to bolster sustainability in all areas of its operations. It provides a positive example of a socially responsible business based on an ESG-banking business model.
1 https://www.unepfi.org/banking/bankingprinciples/responsible-banking-in-the-covid-19-crisis
2 Our business model combines social responsibility and profitability