Financial results for a bank are very important but they are not everything. It will be hard to believe, but a bank can also help the poor, contribute to the protection of the environment, safeguard the artistic and cultural heritage. This is the mission of Intesa Sanpaolo, which one year after highlighting philanthropic activity in the Business Plan to 2021, draws the sums for the first 12 months. “A successful company like ours – CEO Carlo Messina said in a conference in Milan – has the duty to assume responsibility towards the community. Next week we will present the 2018 accounts, but first we decided to show what a bank is capable of doing for the most needy and for the country's growth". Intesa Sanpaolo's mission, certified in the Plan presented a year ago, “is not just to make shareholders happy. In our DNA there are also elements of values and the Foundations are one of our strengths”.
Not to mention investing in the needs of the community, namely in education, the fight against poverty, sustainability and culture “it is not only necessary but also profitable”, as recalled by the president of Intesa Sanpaolo Gian Maria Gros Pietro. “Distributing dividends is already a way of helping businesses and therefore the country – added Messina – because among our shareholders there are also the Foundations which then invest that money in useful activities. But we wanted to go further, through major projects that the bank is personally involved in". Not alone, of course. In addition to the Intesa Sanpaolo Onlus Foundation itself, the bank's philanthropic partners are various: from the Banco Alimentare Foundation to the AIL (Italian Association against Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma), from Caritas to the Community of Sant'Egidio, the Opera di San Francesco, the City Angels Lombardia Onlus, the Golden Links initiative and others, engaged in the related projects of competence.
FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY
In the months in which the basic income is being discussed, Intesa Sanpaolo has already implemented significant aid to the needy in the 2018 calendar year: “The basic income needs to be improved but in the meantime it is right to allocate resources. We are ready to do our part and we are already doing it”, commented Messina. The social solidarity project of the leading Italian bank by number of customers has already made it possible to distribute in the year that has just ended 3,3 million meals (10 a day), 95 beds (6 a month), 36 medicines (3 a month) and 36 clothes (3 a month). The commitment is also confirmed for 2019, with a clear objective: “Our commitment is above all for the so-called working poor, that is, that category of people who work but who have great economic difficulties. The poor are almost always people like us, who dress like us, who work, who have dignity but who need clothes, medicines, sometimes even food,” explained the CEO. "I was shocked, for example, by knowing that even in Milan, a city that is economically running, the phenomenon of child poverty is presenting itself".
ACCESS TO THE STUDIO
At the heart of the commitment made in the Business Plan are also young people and the right to education: "We are among the countries in Europe with the lowest percentage of graduates and this is a fact that cries out for revenge", says Messina. In Italy, one student out of three leaves school prematurely: in the South, only one out of three enrolls in university and the dropout rate rises to 45%. So the bank decided to disburse between now and 2021 over 100.000 unsecured loans to university students throughout Italy, with a particularly interesting formula. The maximum amount disbursed is 5.000 euros per year (in the first year of use, students on average spent only 70%, also testifying to serious and prudent use of the loan), for a maximum of five consecutive years. To access it, students are not asked for guarantees, but only merit is clearly rewarded: at least 80% of the annual credits required by their course of study must be obtained. At the end of the loan there is a two-year "grace period", in which repayment is not requested, which will then last 15 years, in order to allow payment in small installments.
YOUTH EMPLOYMENT
After studies, there is work. There are 1,3 million unemployed young people in Italy, despite the fact that around 600 positions are available in the labor market, the profiles of which are difficult for businesses to find. “It is important to favor the meeting between supply and demand”, says Messina. Another task that would be up to the public and which according to the Government's intentions will be tackled through the citizen's income. In the meantime, Intesa Sanpaolo, in collaboration with Generation - McKinsey's global initiative to reduce youth unemployment - has decided to support the training of 5 young people over the next three years, accompanying them into the world of work.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Sustainability for Intesa Sanpaolo is worth at least 5 billion euros: this is the amount allocated between now and 2021 to support innovative projects by SMEs and large companies inspired by the principles of the circular economy. And that's not all: startups will also be involved in the circular economy through the acceleration program "CE Startup Initiatives" or through the CE Lab, the first Italian laboratory for the circular economy, organized together with the Cariplo Foundation. The reference partner, in this case, is the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
ART AND CULTURE
You don't eat culture, some say, but that's not the case: culture is worth 16% of the Italian GDP and Intesa Sanpaolo has been making it one of its main activities for some time. The first objective is to preserve, enhance and share the rich artistic heritage owned by the bank, kept above all in its museum complex, the Gallerie d'Italia, present in Milan, Naples and Vicenza, where a selection of the 30 works in Intesa's portfolio. Added to this are the temporary exhibitions: in 2018 there were 14, of which 13 at the Gallerie d'Italia. Then there are collaborations with some of the most prestigious museums in the world, from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg to the Metropolitan in New York. The commitment continues also in 2019: in the year of Matera European capital of culture, Intesa Sanpaolo is also Gold Partner of the event.
