Case study: How Achmea Bank identifies and works on strategic business opportunities to increase positive and reduce negative impacts

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.

Achmea Bank engages with stakeholders through a variety of tools and methods to ensure alignment with societal goals and values. The bank’s main stakeholder groups include employees, customers, partners, and investors. Achmea Bank connects with them through:

• Customer councils and customer-centric dialogue sessions
• Measuring service quality via Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Conducting market research
• Employee councils
• Adherence to the Banking Code and the bank’s Code of Conduct
• Active participation in Dutch Banking Association initiatives such as ‘Bankers in the Classroom’ and market research
• Seeking partnerships to advance the SDGs across various areas, including collaborations with PCAF, EEM NL Hub, and the Sector Collective ‘Duurzaam Wonen’
• Engagement dialogues with partners and investors

How did Achmea Bank identify and work on strategic business opportunities to increase positive and reduce negative impacts?

In its 2024 ESG Impact Report Achmea Bank reports that it identified and worked on strategic business opportunities to increase positive and reduce negative impacts as follows:

Achmea Bank is committed to making a positive impact on SDGs 10, 11, and 13. Achmea Bank’s initiatives include:

• Offering services such as Centraal Beheer’s ‘Duurzaam Woongemak,’ which provides solutions for making homes more sustainable, including insulation, solar panels, home batteries, heat pumps, and green roofs.
• Providing customers with the option to finance energy-saving products as part of their mortgage, without the need to present an immediate plan for spending. The Energy-Saving Budget (ESB) can be kept in deposit for up to two years.
• Extending longer quotation periods for new-build homes, aligning with the process that buyers of new-build properties must follow.
• Introducing a “green loan” component to the mortgage offering, allowing customers to co-finance sustainability measures at a lower interest rate; efforts are also underway to make it easier for existing customers to obtain additional loans for energy-saving facilities. In 2025 Achmea Bank implemented a label A+ discount for houses with an energy label of A+ or higher.
• Monitoring both the average energy efficiency score and the financed emissions of the mortgage portfolio.
• Playing a key role in Achmea’s Green Finance Framework for issuing green bonds.

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:

First class PRB assurance services: The result of solid, hands-on ESG/ Sustainability experience

• • • FBRH is a GRI Certified Training Partner (Global), ISEP Training Centre and a member of CPD.
    • FBRH builds trust. Over 200 reviews from top professionals from around the world demonstrate our ability to build strong, trusting business relationships.
    • FBRH possesses a unique skill set that combines ESG/sustainability certified training, experience in advisory services and report preparation, and ESG/sustainability report assurance.

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 Achmea 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://www.achmeabank.nl/-/media/achmeabank/documenten/duurzaamheid/ratings-rapporten-lidmaatschappen/esg-impact-report-2024-achmea-bank.pdf

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