Case study: How Banco Popular 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.

Banco Popular acknowledges the significance of engaging with its stakeholders, including shareholders, the board of directors, its dedicated employees, customers, suppliers, contractors, government entities, regulators, associations, public opinion, subsidiaries, and credit rating agencies. This dedication is integral to Banco Popular’s Sustainability Policy, which details the actions to be taken with these stakeholders to promote well-being and sustainable development.

In light of this, Banco Popular has implemented several initiatives in 2023 to create new communication channels that cater to the needs of its stakeholders.

1. The Bank has established a virtual office for shareholder and investor relations, available in both Spanish and English. This office aims to provide stakeholders with up-to-date information on key developments and pertinent matters regarding the organization’s governance and structure.
2. The Bank has launched a Suppliers Website designed to strengthen its relationships with suppliers and candidates. This platform facilitates interaction and information exchange, thereby enhancing Banco Popular’s integrated management of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors within the supply chain.

Banco Popular’s adoption of best practices for reporting Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) information in recent years has earned Banco Popular recognition from the Colombian Stock Exchange for its Investor Relations (IR) efforts.

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

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

Banco Popular has formulated and published a Sustainability Policy aimed at establishing guidelines and criteria for decision-making that advance the Bank’s sustainable development goals. This policy seeks to promote best practices among customers and consumers while facilitating responsible management of Banco Popular’s stakeholders. Additionally, it aims to empower stakeholders as vital contributors to society, fostering well-being and mutual growth through a framework that aligns with Banco Popular’s business objectives.

In 2023, the Bank created an inclusive service guide tailored for elderly customers, customers with disabilities, and those of diverse sexual orientations. This guide is intended to enhance customer experiences by standardizing protocols and offering guidelines to ensure that all customers receive specialized support.

Furthermore, in line with its commitment to developing sustainable products and services, Banco Popular is introducing a comprehensive process for identifying climate risks that encompasses both physical and transition risks.

It is crucial for organizations to recognize the physical risks associated with their corporate and government lending activities in order to effectively address the potential impacts of climate change.

The Bank employs physical risk assessments to evaluate the vulnerability of its lending operations to extreme weather events such as floods, landslides, and severe droughts. By understanding these specific risks, Banco Popular can help its business clients develop effective mitigation and adaptation strategies in key sectors. Regarding transition risks, the Bank is focused on identifying the challenges related to the decarbonization of the economy.

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), IEMA 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 Banco Popular, 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.bancopopular.com.co/wps/wcm/connect/bancopopular/be085e85-5c79-4e6f-bf8b-02b6d80586e2/Banco-Popular-Principles-for-Responsible-Banking-Report-2023.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=p1Q2d7-

Note to Banco Popular: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.