Case study: How Banco Promerica El Salvador 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 Promerica engages with various stakeholders, including chambers of commerce, industry associations, sustainability-focused companies, multilateral and development banks, among others. Its approach includes the following:

• Client Visits: Banco Promerica El Salvador prioritizes relational banking and uses these visits to identify needs, allowing it to create tailored proposals, solutions, or collaborations. Banco Promerica El Salvador maintains close relationships with its clients, particularly companies and SMEs.
• Participation in Business Associations: This provides an opportunity to connect with different sectors, fostering collaborations, new business prospects, and partnerships.
• Surveys: Banco Promerica El Salvador conducts surveys targeting customer segments it aims to serve, to identify their needs regarding new financial and non-financial products and services.

Banco Promerica El Salvador features a Transparency section on its website that outlines:

• Standards for Transparency in Financial Services Information
• Interest rates, commissions, and additional fees
• Contract templates

The next step involves conducting a materiality study to incorporate the perspectives of key stakeholders, focusing on three main objectives:

• Aligning initiatives with Banco Promerica El Salvador’s core business
• Validating Banco Promerica El Salvador’s strategy
• Identifying avenues for value creation

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

In its 2024 PRB Reporting and Self-Assessment Template Banco Promerica El Salvador reports that it works with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities as follows:

• Banco Promerica El Salvador has initiated a pilot program for Sales Teams, named AND PYME, to train over 160 SME executives in relationship banking skills and to explore green and social segments as new opportunities.
  • Sustainability training is provided for new hires at Banco Promerica El Salvador every 15 days.
  • Banco Promerica El Salvador is conducting a survey of women-led SMEs in five countries to understand their aspirations and needs, enabling it to develop tailored products and services through its “Protagonistas” program.
  • Banco Promerica El Salvador has established a Women Network Platform focused on women-led SMEs.
  • A new section has been added to Banco Promerica El Salvador’s official website for clients and other interested stakeholders to submit comments on Environmental & Social (E&S) matters, serving as a grievance mechanism.
  • Banco Promerica El Salvador’s Financial Education platform has been updated to offer tools that empower customers with information, helping them to make informed financial decisions.

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 Promerica El Salvador, 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.promerica.com.sv/media/593484/prb-reporting-and-self-assessment-elsalvador.pdf

Note to Banco Promerica El Salvador: 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.