- Responsible Banking Report | 2020
highlights
Our 11 public commitments to build a more responsible bank
Grupo Santander works to maintain a strong culture, developed by a skilled, motivated and diverse workforce, able to deliver the right solutions for our customers’ needs while improving the communities we serve. We offer financing our customers can afford and support education that increases their financial resilience. We also strive to foster the global transition to the green economy, while reducing our own environmental footprint.
In 2019, we disclosed 11 public commitments which reflect our ambitions for the responsible banking agenda. Our pledges help us integrate ESG aspects into business management, and are set out to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time- bound) so we can fulfil the UN SDGs intrinsic to our operations, and make progress towards the targets set out in the Paris Agreement on climate change.
In 2020, we made significant progress, achieving carbon neutrality and fulfilling four of our 2021 commitments one year early.
A. According to external indexes in each country (Great Place to Work, Top Employer, Merco, etc.).
B. Senior leadership positions make up 1% of the total workforce.
C. Equal pay gap based on same jobs, levels and functions.
D.Unbanked, underbanked or financially vulnerable individuals receive tailored finance solutions and can increase their knowledge and resilience through financial education.
E. Includes Grupo Santander’s contribution to green finance: project finance; syndicated loans; green bonds; capital finance; export finance, advisory services, structuring and other products, to help customers transition to a low-carbon economy. EUR 220bn committed from 2019 to 2030.
F. In countries where we can confirm electricity from renewable sources at properties occupied by Grupo Santander.
G. In our core geographies (G10).
H. The reported percentage takes our core geographies (G10) into account. Specific measures taken to cope with the covid-19 situation that might have involved use of plastics has not been penalized in the calculation of this percentage
I.Beneficiaries of Santander Universities (students given a Santander scholarship will do a work placement in an SME or take part in entrepreneurship programmes Grupo Santander endorses).
J. Beneficiaries of our community investment programmes (not including Santander Universities and financial education initiatives).
Member of
Dow Jones Sustainability Index
The Dow Jones Sustanibility Index (DJSI World) listed Grupo Santander for the 20th year in a row, with top marks in financial inclusion, crime prevention, tax strategy, customer relationship management, environmental reporting, operational eco-efficiency and social reporting. We also improved our FTSE4Good and Sustainalytics scores.
Among top 10
in Bloomberg Gender- Equality Index
Grupo Santander 7th in the Bloomberg Gender- Equality Index (BGEI) scoring above average in every category. Top score achieved in equal pay and gender pay parity. The BGEI is a golden seal for companies around the world that show a firm public commitment to equality and women in the workplace through policymaking, visibility and transparency.
One of the world’s best
places to work
Great Place to Work put Grupo Santander among the Employers world’s 25 best workplaces for the second year, out of more than 10,000 organizations worldwide that ensure exceptional employee experiences and high- trust relationships rooted in fairness and equality. The institute also named us one of the Best Places to Work in Latin America.
Top Employers
2020
Top Employers recognizes the excellent work environment of our bank in Spain, Poland, the UK and Chile, and of Santander Consumer Finance in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Poland and Belgium. As Santander has won awards in more than five European countries, it also received the Top Employers Europe certification.
Best bank for diversity and inclusion,
and for SMEs
Euromoney gave Santander its global ‘Best Bank for Diversity and Inclusion’ award for the first time, in addition to our third global ‘Best Bank for SMEs’ award in five years. The magazine highlighted the breadth and ambition of our diversity and inclusion programmes. It also presented us with its “Excellence on Leadership” award for our covid-19 response in Europe.
One of the 100
brands in the world
Thanks to our work helping communities prosper in a way that is Simple, Personal and Fair, we have been recognized as the biggest bank in the eurozone and the sixth bank in Interbrand’s 2020 Best Global Brands ranking.