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.

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), ISEP 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 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

Note to BNK Financial Group: 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.

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 BNK Financial Group has identified six key stakeholder groups in order to communicate effectively with stakeholders who influence management activities, and is engaging with them by diversifying communication channels for each stakeholder group. Additionally, as part of impact analysis, a quantitative assessment involving both internal and external stakeholders is conducted annually in the double materiality assessment process to incorporate the opinions of various stakeholders.

• Customer

– Definition: Group that uses financial products and services and wields influence, including individual customers and corporate customers.

– How to communicate and collaborate: The BNK Financial Group actively seeks feedback through various channels to enhance customer’s satisfaction by improving the quality of its products and services. In particular, the BNK Financial Group is gathering feedback from customers by recruiting them to participate in panel surveys and submitting necessary improvements related to the Group’s banking services on a regular basis. Busan Bank has completed the implementation of 57 out of 93 improvement proposals received from the customer panel in 2023.

• Stockholders and investors

– Definition: Group that wields influence on decision making for sustainable growth, including stockholders and investors.

– How to communicate and collaborate: In response to the growing interest of stockholders and investors in the sustainability of BNK Financial Group’s business structure and concerns about the greenwashing risk of green products and services, the Group is committed to providing transparent disclosure of information and proactive communication. Therefore, the BNK Financial Group is enhancing the trust of stockholders and investors by disclosing not only financial and stock information but also risk and opportunity factors related to climate change and corresponding strategies, current status of green finance such as sales performance and investment amounts, and social contribution efforts including types and budgets of support for low-income individuals and financially vulnerable groups.

• Government and supervisory agencies

– Definition: Group that leads the role of corporate social responsibility to strengthen the financial industry’s competitiveness, including Government, National Assembly, and Financial Supervisory Service.

– How to communicate and collaborate: The government and supervisory agencies are establishing relevant policies and guidelines to enable financial companies to execute an important role in the transition to a sustainable economy. In 2021, the Financial Supervisory Service published a guideline for financial companies, ‘Guidelines for Climate Risk Management’, for a sound climate risk management system. The BNK Financial Group  has established a governance structure for responding to climate change, measured climate risks, and established appropriate response strategies using this guideline as a reference. In accordance with the TCFD recommendations, the Group has transparently disclosed information on climate risk. Additionally, the BNK Financial Group is transparently reporting materials related to ESG finance and ESG management as required by the financial authorities and the Korea Federation of Banks.

• Employees

– Definition: Agent for realizing vision and value to achieve the corporate management goal, including staff and labor union.

– How to communicate and collaborate: The BNK Financial Group operates communication and harmony programs joined by all employees to spread the core values of the Group and improve the sense of membership. During the first half of 2023, all employees held a proposal for what they hoped for from BNK Financial Group. A total of 175 employees submitted 209 suggestions. Furthermore, the BNK Financial Group is operating a labor union and regularly holding HR meetings to establish cooperative and productive labor-management relationship.

• Local society

– Definition: Group that shares pending issues of the community and cooperates to resolve them, including local society, environmental organizations, press, and academia.

– How to communicate and collaborate: The local community is the foundation of BNK Financial Group, and under the management ideology of ‘To the World with the Region’, the BNK Financial Group seeks to promote the local economy. The Group aims to achieve mutual growth with the region by supporting promising ventures and startups within the locality and providing financial support for core regional industries. The BNK Financial Group is leading efforts to create job opportunities for the youth in the region to address the risk of local extinction due to the decline in the young population by intensifying financial support for job-creating enterprises and discovering and supporting local talent.

In addition, the BNK Financial Group is participating in various global initiatives. The Group discusses sustainability agendas such as climate change and human rights, and strives to manage the impact of its business effectively according to global standards.

• UNGC (United Nations Global Compact) Joined in July 2020

• CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project, Capital Market Signatory) Joined in May 2021

• TCFD (Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures) Joined in May 2021

• UNEP FI (United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative) Joined in March 2022

• PCAF (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials) Joined in March 2022

• SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) Joined in March 2022

How did BNK Financial Group identify and work on strategic business opportunities to increase positive and reduce negative impacts?

In its 2024 PRB Reporting and Self-Assessment Template BNK Financial Group reports that it identified and worked on strategic business opportunities to increase positive and reduce negative impacts as follows:

BNK Financial Group develops and provides sustainable financial products to encourage customers’ sustainable economic activities while simultaneously improving its business structure and portfolio.

• ESG Fund – Climate change mitigation / SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy, SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production, SDG 13 Climate action

The BNK Financial Group is selling ESG fund products to enhance increase positive impact on the environment and society while pursuing stable profits. ESG fund products that comply with responsible investment policies are not only supporting companies with excellent non-financial factors such as environmental, social, and governance but also contributing to securing funding channels for companies that provide products and services related to the transition to a low-carbon society, such as solar power and EVs. In 2023, the Group sold and managed 42 products, including BNK Sustainable ESG Securities Investment Trust No. 1., amounting to 412.5 billion KRW.

• ESG Bonds – Climate change mitigation, Financial inclusion / SDG 1 No poverty, SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth, SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy, SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production, SDG 13 Climate action

The BNK Financial Group has established an ESG bond issuing management system for the systematic management of the entire process from issuance of ESG bonds to follow-up monitoring. This management system is structured to comply with the Green Bond Principle, Social Bond Principle, Sustainability Bond Guidelines of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), consisting of content related to the use of funds, evaluation and selection of target businesses, fund management, and follow-up reporting. Funds procured are used in producing renewable energy, expanding green transportation, reducing greenhouse gas, supporting basic livelihood for vulnerable groups, and revitalizing local economy. In 2023, ESG bonds of 290 billion KRW were issued, and 3,175.4 billion KRW was invested in ESG bonds.

• Financial products for low-income individuals and financially vulnerable groups – Financial inclusion / SDG 1 No poverty, SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth

The BNK Financial Group provides various products and services to maximize positive impact through coexistence with small business owners and financially vulnerable groups, fulfilling its social responsibility as a regional bank. For loan products, the Group offered loans such as New Hope Spore Loan and Sunshine Loan Bank to improve loan accessibility for customers with low-credit score. For deposit products, the Group sold savings products like BNK Hope Cultivation Savings and Hope-gathering Savings, which provide high interest rates to help vulnerable groups to accumulate their funds. For card products, the Group has launched the specialized products for multi-child families such as the Multi-Children Love Card, the Braille Card for the visually impaired, the Citizen Happiness Card which can be used for various national vouchers, the ‘Happy Tomorrow Card’ to support vocational high school students in preparing for employment, and the youth support cards to provide activity and operation expenses to young people seeking jobs. As of the end of 2023, the balance of mutual benefit loans for low-income individuals was 2.3065 trillion KRW, the deposit balance was 2.0006 trillion KRW, and the card performance was 1.085 trillion KRW. Additionally, the loan balance for local small businesses was 1.0251 trillion KRW, and the deposit balance from local residents was 585.2 billion KRW.

 

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), ISEP 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 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://eng.bnkfg.com/05/04.jsp

Note to the BNK Financial Group: 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.