Case study: How BNK Financial Group promotes a culture of responsible banking among its employees

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.

BNK Financial Group defines and categorizes internal and external stakeholders into six groups, to systematically manage the needs of the stakeholders who affect its business operations in the overall key strategy development and execution process, including materiality assessments. BNK Financial Group communicates with its stakeholders through a wide array of communication channels. Additionally, as part of impact analysis, quantitative evaluations involving both internal and external stakeholders are carried out annually through the Double Materiality assessment process, to incorporate stakeholder opinions.

• Customers

× Definition: Groups including individual and corporate customers who use financial products and services and exert influence

× Communication and Collaboration Methods: To deliver customer satisfaction through open communication, BNK Financial Group operates the customer panel system. Busan Bank collects varying feedback on new product planning and development as well as the improvement of existing products and services through its customer panel program ‘CX Explorer’. Selected members of the panel present improvement ideas from the consumer viewpoint on monthly assignments and free topics. Actionable ideas are reviewed at the CX Association chaired by the Head of the Management Strategy Group. In 2024, the CX Association met 10 times in total, discussing 96 improvement ideas, out of which 75 were implemented. Kyongnam Bank operates a region-based customer panel and channels discussion outcomes to relevant departments to support meaningful improvements. In 2024, the 9th Customer Panel— comprising 12 local customers—was selected and conducted discussions on topics such as increasing core deposits and providing feedback on service channel usage. The insights generated through these sessions were shared with the appropriate departments for follow-up action.

• Employees

× Definition: Subjects realizing the company’s vision and values to achieve management goals, including staff and labor unions

× Communication and Collaboration Methods: BNK Financial Group operates 24/7 grievance handling channels for stakeholders to file actual or potential human rights violations and grievances arising from business operations. Grievance handling channels serve as measures to mitigate and remediate the adverse effects associated with human rights risks. Stakeholders are free to raise their grievances through various channels, including mobile devices, QR codes, in-person interviews, phone calls, and email. The grievance handling department, upon receiving a report, investigates the case, takes follow-up action, and notifies the results and feedback according to internal procedures. Busan Bank recorded 120 grievance reports, with 35 processed; Kyongnam Bank recorded 115, with 63 processed. BNK Financial Group operates a range of programs to promote communication among employees and enhance their organizational satisfaction. The Group has implemented the Birkman Assessment approach since 2024 to systematically identify employees’ tendencies, work engagement, and stress levels. In the first quarter of 2025, BNK Financial Group conducted an online satisfaction survey on all employees from seven subsidiaries and measured satisfaction for 9.5% of the total BNK Financial Group employees. The analysis revealed that the satisfaction score was 3.99 out of 5. Additionally, regular HR meetings are held with labor unions to encourage union activities and build cooperative, sound labor-management relations.

• Shareholders and Investors

× Definition: Shareholders and investors who influence BNK Financial Group’s sustainable growth decisions

× Communication and Collaboration Methods: To address increased shareholder and investor interest in business structure sustainability and concerns over greenwashing risks in green financial products, transparent information disclosure and active communication are conducted to enhance trust. This includes disclosure of financial and stock information, climate change-related risks and opportunities, strategies, green finance performance and investment amounts, as well as social contribution efforts such as support types and budgets for low-income and financially vulnerable groups.

• Partners

× Definition: Groups with which BNK Financial Group pursues mutual growth based on partnership and trust

× Communication and Collaboration Methods: Each subsidiary leads social responsibility fulfilment and safety/environmental value realization through mutual growth and improvement of working conditions with partners. Specifically, BNK Savings Bank provides exclusive office spaces for outsourced counsellors and carries out regular meetings to reflect field opinions. Human rights issues of customer counselling workers, including those belonging to partners, are managed. A grievance box for counsellors is provided, and regular inspections and support regarding human rights violations during customer counselling also take place. In cases of complaints, 30 minutes of rest per case and mental health workshops are offered to manage counsellors’ human rights comprehensively.

• Local Communities

× Definition: Groups including local communities, environmental organizations, media, and academia that share regional issues and cooperate for solutions

× Communication and Collaboration Methods: Under the management philosophy of ‘Together with the Region, to the World,’ BNK Financial Group seeks to revitalize the local economy and promote mutual growth with local communities. It supports promising local ventures and startups and provides financial support to key regional industries. Specifically, in response to the regional extinction crisis due to youth population decline, support for youth job-creating companies is strengthened, and regional talent is discovered and nurtured to lead youth job creation.

• Government and Regulatory Agencies

× Definition: Governments, National Assembly, Financial Supervisory Service, etc., leading corporate social responsibility to strengthen the competitiveness of the financial industry

× Communication and Collaboration Methods: Government and regulatory agencies establish policies and guidelines enabling financial companies to transition to a sustainable economy. In 2021, the Financial Supervisory Service announced the ‘Climate Risk Management Best Practice Guidelines for Financial Companies,’ upon which BNK Financial Group established a governance system for climate change response, measured climate risks, and formulated appropriate response strategies. Additionally, in accordance with TCFD recommendations, climate risk-related information is disclosed transparently, and ESG finance and management-related materials required by financial authorities and the Banking Association are also reported transparently. Moreover, BNK Financial Group participates in various global initiatives to discuss sustainability agendas such as climate change and human rights, striving to effectively manage the impact of management activities according to global standards.

Global Initiatives Joined by BNK Financial Group

• UNGC (United Nations Global Compact) – Joined July 2020
• CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project, Capital Market Signatory) – Joined May 2021
• TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) – Joined May 2021
• UNEP FI (United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative) – Joined March 2022
• PCAF (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials) – Joined March 2022
• SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) – Joined March 2022

How does BNK Financial Group promote a culture of responsible banking among its employees?

In its 2024 PRB Responsible Banking Progress Statement BNK Financial Group reports that it took the following actions to promote a culture of responsible banking among its employees:

• ESG Training

Under the direction of its Talent Development Institute, BNK Financial Group offers annual online and offline training programs to support employees in adopting eco-friendly practices and enhance ESG awareness.

In 2024, ESG training was integrated into development programs for promoted employees, new hires, and across various functions for all Group staff. Additionally, 13 ESG personnel from different subsidiaries completed the ESG expert course provided by the Federation of Korean Industries, earning professional qualifications in ESG.

A total of 5,559 employees participated in online training sessions covering ESG, climate change, and carbon neutrality.

In the latter half of 2024, 60 employees promoted to grades 3 and 4, along with 85 new hires, attended offline ESG lectures to deepen their understanding. BNK Financial Group also encourages employees to freely participate in eco-friendly educational programs offered through the Korea Banking Institute (KBI FLEX), including courses like ‘Strategy for a Sustainable Environment’ and ‘Zero Carbon Footprint’.

• ESG Policies

To spread the value of sustainability, BNK Financial Group has developed and disseminated ESG policies applicable to employees across all affiliates. These policies and guidelines—such as the Code of Ethics (detailing ethical standards for conduct), the Environmental Management Policy (addressing climate change response), the Community Engagement Policy (focusing on local community contribution and development), and the Human Rights Policy (aimed at strengthening human rights and diversity)—serve to communicate the Group’s core values to all members.

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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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 BNK Financial Group, 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.bnkfg.com/share_file/(BNK Financial Group) PRB-Reporting-and-Self-Assessment-Template.pdf

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