Case study: How Bank of Ireland 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.

Bank of Ireland engages regularly with its stakeholders through various methods, including surveys, social media, meetings, and working groups.

To shape the development of its Sustainability strategy, Bank of Ireland conducted its first materiality assessment in 2020. This process helped gain a deeper understanding of the issues important to its stakeholders. The exercise began with a horizon scanning process to identify the key issues in the agenda, which was informed by Bank of Ireland’s purpose, values, and strategic priorities, as well as data from existing surveys with customers and colleagues, peer reviews, regulation, industry trends, media, and relevant research. This resulted in a shortlist of 25 topics.

To facilitate prioritization, these topics were further explored through a comprehensive stakeholder engagement exercise that gathered the views of customers, colleagues, suppliers, trade associations, and non-governmental organizations, among others. Interviews and surveys were used to determine the importance stakeholders assigned to each topic, as well as the reasoning behind their decisions.

In 2023, Bank of Ireland conducted a refreshed materiality assessment using the double materiality concept. This approach allowed for a deeper understanding of not only the financial materiality of sustainability topics affecting the Group but also the impact materiality of sustainability topics on which the Group can have a material impact externally.

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

In its 2022 Sustainability Report Bank of Ireland reports that it works with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities as follows:

At Bank of Ireland, it is recognized that the organization can play a significant role in facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy. Bank of Ireland’s Sustainability strategy, specifically outlined under the ‘Supporting the Green transition’ pillar, outlines the organization’s commitment to working with its customers, colleagues, and communities to support their transition to a resilient, net zero economy by 2050, in line with the Irish and UK governments’ ambitions and actions.

To translate this commitment into action, Bank of Ireland has established a 5-point climate plan:

• Setting Science-Based Targets (SBTs): Bank of Ireland aims to manage and track its lending practices to make progress against emission reduction targets.
• Providing sustainable financing: Bank of Ireland seeks to support its customers through its core financing and advisory capabilities to enable them to transition to Net Zero and develop and deploy low-carbon technologies.
• Decarbonizing Bank of Ireland’s own operations: Bank of Ireland is committed to making its own operations Net Zero by 2030.
• Managing climate-related risks: Bank of Ireland is dedicated to building its resilience by incorporating climate-related impacts into decision-making processes for its own operations, lending, investment decisions, and advice provided to customers.
• Transparently reporting progress: Bank of Ireland is committed to transparently reporting on the progress being made towards its ambitions and adhering to the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

In addition to this commitment, Bank of Ireland aims to build a customer-focused organization that prioritizes improving service and digital capabilities, while also addressing the basics.

To support this strategic commitment, Bank of Ireland’s Group Code of Conduct sets out a high standard for interactions with others within and outside the organization, as well as personal financial dealings. The code is complemented by other policies, including the Speak Up Policy and Anti-bribery and corruption policy. All colleagues complete mandatory web-based training annually on these aspects.

Bank of Ireland Corporate and Markets has publicly released a Sustainability Exclusion List that clearly outlines the organization’s risk appetite for lending to potentially sensitive sectors deemed to cause environmental and/or social harm to society and its communities. This Exclusion List applies to all Corporate non-property new lending, meaning that Corporate Banking will not provide financing to customers engaged in the activities defined as excluded.

A key pillar of Bank of Ireland’s Sustainability strategy is ‘Enhancing financial wellbeing’. The financial health of customers has a significant impact on their quality of life. Financial wellbeing encompasses having the knowledge, tools, and confidence necessary to manage one’s finances effectively, allowing individuals to cover daily expenses, plan for the future, and handle unexpected challenges. Through its commitment to enhancing financial wellbeing, Bank of Ireland aims to empower individuals to thrive financially by enabling them to make informed financial decisions for themselves and for those who matter most in their lives: their families, their businesses, and their communities.

Bank of Ireland focuses on building financial capability and confidence, utilizing behavioural insights to foster positive outcomes for its customers. The organization adopts an inclusive approach, recognizing the diverse financial challenges faced by many in society, and aims to be the leading advocate for financial wellbeing in Ireland.

Achievements in 2022 include:

• Over 300,000 hours of financial literacy support provided by coaches to customers, colleagues, and communities since 2019.
• A total of 231,000 Financial Healthchecks completed by individuals beginning their financial wellbeing journey since the tool’s launch in 2019 (151,620 were completed in 2021).
• Assistance provided to 6,300 vulnerable customers facing challenging situations (6,000 in 2021; 10,000 in 2020, including 4,000 calls to the COVID-19 support line, 3,000 in 2019).
• Participation of 82,120 secondary school pupils in the ‘Money Smarts’ Programme, challenge, and seminar during the 2021/2022 school year (13,220 in 2020/2021 and 55,560 in 2019/2020). In addition, over 6,700 Basic Bank Accounts were opened in 2022 (841 in 2021 and 266 in 2020). This increase has been supported by a new dedicated section on the Group website, alternative state-issued documentation accepted as proof of identity and address, and a bespoke service solution at the National Reception Centre for individuals seeking asylum and refugee status; safeguarding customers who do not have decision making capacity, while ensuring they and their care givers can meet their daily care and comfort needs.
• The Mi365 app was launched to provide personalized insights, tailored interventions, and nudges to assist customers in reviewing their spending patterns, making improved financial decisions, and adjusting their behaviours and habits to achieve their financial goals.
• A Cost of Living hub was developed on Bank of Ireland’s Group website, focusing on practical tips and steps that customers can utilize to regain control and protect their financial resilience during the current cost of living crisis.
• Through a series of fraud campaigns designed to safeguard customers’ financial wellbeing, Bank of Ireland has seen a 28% increase in visits to its Online Security Zone (118% in 2021).

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.

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References:

This case study is based on published information by Bank of Ireland, 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://personalbanking.bankofireland.com/app/uploads/2022-Sustainability-Report.pdf

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