Case study: How GSB 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.

The Government Savings Bank (GSB) highly values maintaining strong relationships with its stakeholders, recognizing all groups that influence or are affected by the bank’s activities—both positively and negatively. The bank emphasizes creating opportunities for key stakeholders to share their opinions, suggestions, and feedback, ensuring that the needs, expectations, and concerns of all parties are acknowledged equally. Annually, GSB conducts interviews and meetings with relevant units to gather this information. The insights gained are then utilized to guide strategic planning, operational decisions, and development initiatives, helping the bank build a competitive edge and achieve sustainable growth.

Stakeholder Identification and Management

GSB has adopted the international AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard (AA1000SES) as a framework for effective stakeholder management. Additionally, it follows the Stakeholder and Customer Management (SCM) criteria based on the Core Business Enablers assessment within the State Enterprise Assessment Model (SE-AM). This systematic approach promotes stakeholder engagement across relevant business units. The process involves analyzing the value chain and prioritizing key stakeholders based on their involvement in GSB’s plans, projects, and processes. This is carried out at both departmental and regional levels to identify and focus on the most critical stakeholders for the entire organization. The Power-Interest Matrix is used to evaluate stakeholders according to their influence and interest in GSB’s operations, enabling the bank to prioritize engagement strategies accordingly.

GSB classifies stakeholders into six groups based on their involvement in GSB’s core missions and processes:

• Regulatory bodies and government agencies
• Partners and suppliers
• Society and key communities
• Customers, divided into three segments: grassroots, individual, and business/government clients
• Media organizations
• The Board of Directors, executives, employees, and workers

Stakeholder Consultation and Engagement

GSB has established a governance framework for stakeholder management, including the Stakeholder Engagement Policy, Stakeholder Engagement Procedure Manual, and a Stakeholder Master Plan for 2024–2028. This framework provides guidelines for developing high-quality and standardized stakeholder relationships and management practices. The master plan is shared with key stakeholders both within and outside the bank. The framework undergoes an annual review to address current issues and ensure alignment with the needs and expectations of all stakeholder groups. The bank ensures effective mechanisms and processes for stakeholder engagement by setting clear objectives and defining the scope of relationship-building and management activities, based on the goals of stakeholder relationships and the desired outcomes GSB aims to achieve.

Issues Addressed and Outcomes Achieved

Through stakeholder engagement, GSB tackled several key areas, aligning its efforts with the expectations and concerns identified within each stakeholder group. Regulatory authorities and government agencies prioritized compliance with laws, operational transparency, and financial inclusion, particularly for grassroots customers. Partners and suppliers emphasized collaboration in developing products and services, enhancing data connectivity, and maintaining good governance practices. Society and communities sought initiatives to promote financial literacy, build capacity, and improve citizens’ quality of life. Customers looked for support in accessing financial resources and receiving guidance in financial management.

These engagements resulted in tangible achievements. For instance, regulatory bodies’ focus on compliance and transparency contributed to GSB receiving the Integrity and Transparency Assessment (ITA) Award, reflecting its dedication to openness and accountability. Business partners’ emphasis on joint product and service development helped expand the customer base and improve data connectivity, leading to increased access to financial resources. This is exemplified by the approval of 1,537 land/mortgage sales totaling THB 5,457 million and 913,366 vehicle registration loans totaling THB 21,776 million.

Meeting community and customer needs for financial literacy and improved quality of life led to the establishment of six new People’s Financial Institutions, bringing the total to 15—surpassing GSB’s target. GSB’s comprehensive community development initiatives benefited 11,598 individuals, exceeding the goal of 5,000. Digital programs such as the School Bank at 101 locations and the Coach Aom app with 19,447 users promoted savings and financial literacy. Additionally, GSB supported 14.8 million grassroots customers in line with government policies, served 9 million individual customers, and assisted 0.1 million business and government clients.

In response to employee expectations for skill enhancement and career growth, GSB launched Future Skills Development programs, training 104 facilitators dedicated to community development and 70 business advisors for SMEs and startups. These efforts directly support GSB’s action plans by building internal capacity to fulfill its commitments to stakeholders and the Principles. Furthermore, GSB’s strengthened stakeholder management approach is positioned to maximize its positive social impact as a social bank, incorporating direct feedback from stakeholder groups to shape the bank’s future strategic direction.

How does GSB promote a culture of responsible banking among its employees?

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

GSB aligns with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a particular emphasis on two key objectives: eliminating poverty (Goal 1: No Poverty) and reducing inequalities (Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities). The bank strives to achieve these aims by facilitating access to fair capital and working to diminish financial disparities. GSB has adopted the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) from the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), committing to incorporate social, environmental, and governance considerations into its operations. This alignment supports GSB’s vision, mission, and operational framework as it aims to be a leading social bank. By signing the PRB, GSB affirms its dedication to international best practices in sustainable and responsible banking. The bank has established various policies to guide staff at all levels, ensuring departmental operations adhere to responsible banking principles. These policies cover diverse areas, including good corporate governance, a code of conduct, a code of ethics, a sustainability policy, and a human rights policy.

Beyond these core policies, GSB actively demonstrates its commitment to becoming a Social Bank through numerous ESG-related initiatives. These include providing educational programs for small business owners, participating in reforestation projects, and other similar efforts.

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 GSB, 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.gsb.or.th/media/2025/06/Final-GSB-PRB-2024-Full-680628.pdf

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