Case study: How Zenith Bank works with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices

Stakeholder identification and consultation

Please describe which stakeholders (or groups/ types of stakeholders) you have identified, consulted, engaged, collaborated or partnered with for the purpose of implementing the Principles and improving your bank’s impacts. This should include a high-level overview of how your bank has identified relevant stakeholders, what issues were addressed/results achieved and how they fed into the action planning process.

Zenith Bank’s stakeholders have diverse interests and varying degrees of influence over the bank’s operations, which guide the process of identifying, prioritizing, and engaging with key stakeholders.

In 2023, Zenith Bank actively engaged with its internal and external stakeholder groups to gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives on the current challenges and issues regarding its business impacts.

Some of the concerns highlighted by Zenith Bank’s stakeholder groups include:

• Employees: Awareness and surveys, compensation and benefits, hybrid and remote work arrangements, workplace health and wellbeing, capacity building and training, business performance updates, compliance and ethics, cybersecurity, and data privacy.
• Investors: Financial performance and dividends, investor relations, legal advisory, corporate governance, transparency and disclosure, and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) performance.
• Customers: Access to cash, convenience and accessibility, business continuity, marketing campaigns, information security awareness, processing times for electronic transactions, claims and disputes, and overall customer experience.
• Suppliers: Training, supplier assessments and contract management, worker welfare, monitoring and evaluating progress, resolving complaints, information security and privacy awareness, policy reviews, and business updates.
• Government and Regulators: Interest rates, cash access, lending practices, compliance, regulatory adherence, approval of new and existing products, foreign exchange rate policies, new and updated guidelines, and regulations.
• Communities and NGOs: Financial inclusion, support for SMEs, CSR initiatives and communications, collaborations on SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), and sustainability publications.

How did Zenith Bank work with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities?

In its 2023 PRB Reporting and Self-Assessment Template Zenith Bank reports that it works with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities as follows:

Throughout its value chain, Zenith Bank promotes responsible and sustainable practices. To enhance ethical banking and investment standards in its dealings with clients and customers, the bank has established an Environmental and Social Risk Management System.

According to its E&S policy, environmental and social risks are considered in the bank’s lending and investment decisions. By requiring environmental and social compliance as part of the credit assessment and approval process, the policy has been instrumental in reducing the significant E&S risks within Zenith Bank’s portfolios.

Furthermore, Zenith Bank has a policy that mandates clients to adhere to criteria for combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) and anti-money laundering measures.

UN Principles for Responsible Banking: Accelerating a positive global transition for people and the planet

With over 300 signatory banks representing almost half of the global banking industry, the Principles for Responsible Banking are the world’s foremost sustainable banking framework. Through these Principles, the banking community takes action to align core strategies, decision-making, lending and investment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and international agreements such as the Paris Climate Agreement.

FBRH Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) Assurance:

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The combination of all the above empowers FBRH to provide first class Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) assurance services.

References:

This case study is based on published information by Zenith Bank, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://digital.zenithbank.com/sustainability_report/UNEPFI-PRB-Reporting-and-Self-Assessment-2023.pdf

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